Samurai Girl Kim Possible!
by metalguru
Summary: Kim and Ron are in feudal Japan! Actually, its not really them, but rather people just like them. Kim's a samuraiintraining, Ron's a lovable thief, and the rest of the gang will pop up eventually. BOOK 1 COMPLETED.
1. Samurai Girl Kim Possible!

_Japan was a country in turmoil at the dawn of the 18th century. It was a time of pageantry and corruption in the Shogun's court in Edo (now Tokyo) and of riotous gaiety in the pleasure quarters of ancient Kyoto, shuttered away from the world of social restraint. The arts flourished; the popular theatre was born. Because the merchant class was rising in power it was also the beginning of the end of privilege for the professional warriors, or samurai, who felt their loss keenly, especially since they held the business of money-making in contempt. In the midst of such bewildering change eruptions of violence were not unknown. They came most often in the form of rice riots by the farmers who were taxed beyond endurance by the Shogun, the military ruler of all Japan. That they did not occur more often among the samurai was a tribute to the thoroughness of their training and their remarkable self-discipline. _

-From the 47 Ronin Story

In 1700 the beginning of the end of the samurai was laid down, as many samurai began to lose their way. Within several centuries, the samurai would become obsolete, their values and skills lost to the ages. Honor and courage would become ideals little sought by the powerful daimyos (feudal lords) that controlled the land. Some samurai would be forced to peddle their skills for money. Others were forced to sell their swords, the greatest disgrace. However, this is not the time our story takes place.

In the year 1467, the Onin War began in Japan.

This was the height of the age of Samurai. Many daimyos, over 200, fought to take control of the island. The emperor and former shogun were unable to stop this chaotic war. During these warring times, there existed a little known village deep within the mountains of northern Japan. The village was founded by the samurai, and held its purpose to maintain and uphold the Bushido code (Way of the Samurai). From this village would arise a young girl who would someday stop a powerful daimyo from overthrowing the Emperor. Though not born a samurai, she would learn the way of the samurai, and her skills would rise to the levels of the best. She would bring together a collection of warriors in order to uphold justice and restore peace to Japan.

Along the way, she would encounter evil, religion, pain, adventure, intrigue, villains, rivals, magic, royalty, and, most of all, love. And, 300 years later, her story would be lived out again.

This is the story of a warrior.

This is the story of a Samurai Girl.

Running through the back-alleys of Sapporo, a young man flew as fast as he could to avoid the three large men racing to catch him. The alleyway was small, cluttered, and covered from the sun. The wooden houses around were all closed up on this side, giving the young man no chance for escape through one of them. Looking back, he saw their faces and armor once again. They wore loose armor, nothing heavy, which did not bode well for the young man. They wore bits and pieces of samurai clothing, but the young man knew they were criminals, so they most likely took the items from dead samurai fighting the massive civil war that had gripped the country. The young man was wearing soldiers' rags, and he cursed himself for not wearing his ninja armor under his clothes. Even if they were old, they would have given him some protection if the criminals caught him. The young man turned, ducked his head dodge the clothing hanging in the alleyway, and continued to run. He was on the cusp of adulthood at the age of 17, but he knew that if he couldn't lose these men he wouldn't have much longer to live. The prize he carried slung over his back was worth more than even a daimyo's ransom.

Suddenly, the alleyway opened up into a main street. It had been dark in the covered alleyway, but crashing into the larger street the bright sun shone into the man's eyes and blinded him. Momentarily unaware, he ran straight into a passing rickshaw, knocking the small wooden carriage over and knocking over its shocked proprietor. The young man crashed to the ground, limbs flailing. His legs hurt so badly that he couldn't get up, and when he looked down at them, he noticed blood begin to form on his clothed legs. The criminals came out of the alley, and, seeing the young man in his position, smiled and slowly walked towards him. Desperate now, he looked for someone to help him. The rickshaw driver had already taken off, muttering something along the lines of "Gets what coming to him." Most of the peasants walking on the street had cleared out at the sight of the men. They merely looked away and ensured that their children were shooed far away from the men. There were no soldiers or samurai around to protect him. This was Hokkaido, the northernmost island, and all the samurai had joined the war on the mainland. He was doomed.

The young man pushed himself against a wooden house. Filled with hopelessness, the young man reached up and half-heartedly removed the small metal helmet he was wearing to reveal his face. Dirty blond hair fell out, his bangs coming down to cover his face. He had a goofy face, but at this moment the normally kind and gentle face was caught in a grimace. This was it. Nothing could save him now. He closed his eyes and listened. He was quickly reminded of impending death by the sound of an sword being unsheathed.

Then the sun was blocked out from someone standing in front of him. At first, he believed it to be the criminals about to finish him off.

_CLANG!_

The young man snapped his eyes open to find someone in front of him, protecting him! It was a young woman, most likely around his age. She had fiery red hair, like the demons of the fairy tales he grew up with. She carried one sword, but she held it like a master. She wore white robes, covered in ornate decorations; not designed for fighting, most likely she had come from worship at the temple in town. He was amazed that someone would help him, but what amazed him even more was how beautiful she was when she turned to look at him. Her eyes were emerald green and narrowed into the most intense look of concentration. Then he saw something that lifted his heart. On her left shoulder was a design that he had only seen in books. It was the sign of a legendary samurai clan. It showed Confucius holding a scale. One side was filled with demons and disgusting creatures. The other scale overflowed with blood.

_The Wicked Shall Be Judged._

The three criminals took no heed to this look. They laughed at how a young woman was protecting the man.

"Go home," they said, "this boy has something we want. He is of no concern to you. No one cares whether he lives or dies."

They approached. The girl did not back down. They drew.

In a flash, it was over. All three criminals were on the ground, moaning over wounds that were painful, but not life-threatening.

The young man breathed a sigh of relief. Fortune had smiled on him once more.

End Chapter

* * *

First of my three new fics. Basically, the plot is "Kim Possible meets feudal japan." Its going to be a series, with no real direction, so right now the story and how all the Kim Possible characters fit into it are up in the air, so if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. Someday I'll write a seperate fic, a finale, that will end the story and bring all the loose ends together, but this fic has no end. As I get new ideas, I'll stick them in and have "episodes". Sometimes the story will have something to do with the continuity, sometimes it will just be an excuse for me to do something goofy. So if you're reading this and have a cool idea, just send it to me and I'll stick it in. Second story will be up tomorrow.


	2. Lovable Thief Ron Stoppable!

Before I begin, because I forgot last time, Kim Possible belongs to Disney, Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. I do not own nor claim to own this cartoon. This fic is rated PG-13 for physical comedy and action. If you like 16 age anime, like Ruroni Kenshin or Love Hina, you will not be offended. May be changed for some chapters.

* * *

Chapter 2 "Lovable Thief Ron Stoppable!"

Night had fallen on a day that had seen a remarkable event in the town of Sapporo. Anyone around the fish market that day would tell their friends about the young man who had crashed out of an alleyway, having been chased by three angry men. They would say that he collapsed after running into a seller, and the men came upon him, only to be beaten back by a red-haired girl. After the three men ran away, the townspeople watched the young girl help the man to the nearby inn. Onlookers followed the two, and for a brief period of time, they were the talk of the town. Passer-bys who heard the rumors stopped at the inn to see the two. Like a guardian angel, the young girl took care of the boy all through the day and into the night. As the hours passed on and the light grew dark, interest waned and the villagers all went home, until the inn was filled only with its tenants.

"AH, COLD, COLD, COLD!" The young man winced as the girl placed his bandaged leg into a bucket of freezing water from the nearby pond.

"Stop wining, the cold will help sooth the pain."

The two of them were sitting in the common room on the second floor of the inn. This particular inn was of respectable reputation, offering beds, tea, food, and none of the sleaze of the pleasure inns. It was designed with travelers in mind who were honorable and dignified, and before the war often entertained passing lords and mighty samurai. The inn was two-stories, with rooms on the first floor and a common room with an excellent view above. The old lady who ran the inn made sure it was spotless and cozy, in hopes that someday the good times would come again.

The common room had no furniture except for a few low tables that held food. The floor was made of soft mats, and at the center a small stove heated tea. The windows and doors, all of the paper sliding variety, had been closed as night fell. Outside, the cold late autumn chill gave hints of the coming winter, which would very soon be upon them.

The two teenagers sat near the fire. The boy was bandaged and almost naked except for his undergarments. His clothes, old, dirty, and torn, were currently being washed and mended by the generous land-lady. When he finally stopped complaining after his initial dunking, he took a moment to take in his surroundings – especially his new company.

When they had first met, her hair had been teased into a ball with two long hair pins that looked like chopsticks. Now she had let it down, and her long red hair flowed almost to her shoulders. As he watched her, she worked with another bucket of water to try and get the stains out of the white dress she had been wearing earlier. Right now she wore a very plain kimono, much less ornate than the amazing dress. It was white with some red designs, but nothing special. However, when she had unfolded her clothes earlier to pull out the robe she was wearing now, the young man had noticed another batch of clothes rolled into the small pouch she carried that piqued his interest. Along with the beautiful dress and the plain kimono, she had a combination green robe with a brown dress bottom. These looked much lighter and maneuverable than the white dress, and he guessed that those clothes were her battle dress. Her sword lay on the ground next to her, placed in a position for quick retrieval.

"Excuse me." the young man spoke up.

"Yes?" The girl did not stop what she was doing.

"I never got to properly thank you for saving me."

"Oh. You're welcome." She said it without much emotion, as if it really didn't matter.

The young man was curious at her lack of enthusiasm. So, he tried again.

"I never got your name, Miss...?"

"Aisha Kimbre Possible."

"Well, Miss Possible, thank you for doing all of this. I'm Ron Stoppable, world-renowned explorer and adventurer at large, at your service."

Aisha giggled a little at the goofiness of the suggestion.

"Well, Mr. Stoppable, what's a world-famous adventurer doing running through the streets of Sapporo?

Aisha thought for a second and then asked a serious question. "What were you doing running from those men anyway?"

Ron suddenly got very nervous. "Um, I was, um, you know, just minding my own business and they came out of nowhere and jumped me."

She looked at him with a strange look. "Uh huh. Does this have anything to do with it?" She pulled a blue shirt out of the washing basin. "The fabric of this shirt is too expensive for a commoner. It's only worn by the rich and royalty. Care to explain?"

Ron's eyes lit up. "My blankee!"

"Huh?" Aisha was taken aback by the strange comment.

"That was my blankee. My mommy use to hold me in it when I was a baby." He said it in such a cutesy voice that Aisha couldn't help but feel a little pity, or was it disgust? "As the years went on, I just couldn't part with it and had it turned into a shirt. So, yeah, YEAH, that was what they were after! I was so stupid to wear it. How stupid I am!" As if to prove his point, he had a stupid grin on his face.

Aisha thought about pressing the point forward, but decided against it. Though she had brought up the shirt as a clue, her true suspicions pointed to the long cloth cylinder he had slung over his shoulder. Since she met him, he had not let that cylinder away from him for more than a moment. Even now, as he soaked his legs in the tub, he kept the cylinder over his shoulder. It was a long cylinder covered in orange cloth with red lining, and it looked heavy yet didn't make any sound when moved.

* * *

Deciding to go check on his clothes, Aisha went out the sliding door of the common room, down the stairs, and out the back where the hot springs and washing pond were. The back of the inn was a testament to nature, with cherry blossoms and other beautiful plants covering the large wooden fence, creating a natural obstruction and preventing peepers from looking in on the baths. To the left of the entrance were the baths. They reminded her of the hot springs of her village. She decided with a bit of nostalgia that she would take a bath later. To the right were the washing ponds, and from the look of it the land-lady was in there working.

Aisha walked over and entered the washing pond, only to find herself confronted by an old man. She thought he was a little bit strange, as he stared at her through wrinkled eyes with a big smile on his face. He had big white bushy caterpillar eyes, was balding on the top except for a loptop, and had a long white mustache.

"Hee, hee, hello young lady."

"Um, good evening, sir."

"Hee, hee, I saw you come in with that young man, hee, hee, are you, are you, hee hee, lov-ers?" BONK! Almost as if on cue, the land-lady had smacked the old man over the head with a frying pan, which was strange since they were no where near the kitchen.

"OHHHHH!!" The old man quickly ran off.

"Don't mind him. He's just getting perverted in his senile years. It's like that with all the old men. Just the natural way, I guess." The old woman sighed and went back to washing.

Aisha took a seat across from her and began to watch. After a few minutes, she decided to speak up. "Thank you for your generosity."

The old woman looked at her with a smile. "Oh, it was nothing. My generosity pales with yours. Saving that young man, then taking care of him like that. Its more than anyone else would ever do for him."

"And why is that?"

The old lady stopped washing and turned dead serious. "Because that young man is nothing more than a common thief. That's why no one helped him. A few months ago, a gang of bandits show up, and him with them. Crime practically triples, and you know why? Because they're led by someone known as the Master Thief... no that wasn't it. It was, I think, King of... Thieves? No. Now I remember! Their leader is someone who calls himself Kaiden. Said to be able to steal everything from you except your soul. Well, used to be that only the rich feared him. But, then he turned evil." Her eyes narrowed and her fists clutched into what could only be called rage.

"One night, he robbed a temple, took all of the valuables, then burned it to the ground. All of the monks were locked inside. Since then, he raised a band of raiders and thieves, and they've been terrorizing the countryside ever since. No one is safe anymore, because the thing is, Kaiden is only a teenager and so are his compatriots. With their code of silence, its impossible to figure out who belongs when they disperse. However, I saw that boy you saved ride in with their band."

She took a deep breath. "That is why I am telling you this. I did not want to say anything earlier as I see that you are a kind and honorable woman. I only wish others could be like you. I don't want to see you harmed in any way by that boy." She looked deeply at Aisha.

Aisha closed her eyes for a second. The boy currently sitting in the common room didn't seem one bit like a master criminal. She then popped open her eyes and smiled. "Don't worry, I have a plan."

She picked up the clothes and walked towards the door. At the door, she stopped, turned around, and winked. "Besides, I can do anything."

* * *

Back in the common room, Ron was busy fiddling with his arm under the robe he had put on. The sliding door opened and Aisha walked back in with the clothes. Ron quickly covered up whatever was under there, but Aisha got a quick glimpse at what looked like an armguard on his left arm. Picking up a cup of tea, Ron held it up in mock toast to Aisha, slurped back the tea and talked with his mouth full.

"Hey, Ish, you gotta try this ...urp!"

For the second time in one day, Ron found himself at the end of a sword. Only this time, it was held by his supposed rescuer. Ron was shocked.

"Yo, Ish, what's the deal?"

She looked at him with a smile, then turned serious.

"Are you a thief, Ron Stoppable?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Have you ever, at any time, stolen something that didn't belong to you that carried some value to an innocent victim?"

"I can't believe this, where do you get these" Aisha placed her sword right next to his throat. "OKAY, OKAY, I admit I've stolen some things. But it was for a good cause."

"Uh huh, and what cause was that?"

"The Ron Stoppable retirement fund?"

"Okay, listen up. In return for my generosity, you will return any and all items you have stolen to their proper owners, and then turn yourself into the nearest constable. Do you understand me?"

"Okay, you caught me." He stood up. Aisha noticed he had his blue shirt in his right hand. She made a motion with her sword. He raised his hands above his head. "I give up, Ish, I'll go quietly." Ron dropped his hands onto his head.

"Alright, if you're sincere." Aisha let down her guard for one moment.

In a flash, Ron's right hand, its activities behind his back covered by the blue shirt, whipped out a pair of nunchuckus from the long cylinder and whacked Aisha's sword, wrapping the chain around the sword. With his left hand, he grabbed the other nunchaku and pulled it taught around the sword. Ron dropped to the floor, pulling the sword with him. In one fluid moment, Ron hit the floor, then his left arm flew out, firing a chain with a weight on the end at Aisha. The chain wrapped around Aisha's legs, and with a mighty tug, the samurai girl, surprised at the speed and precision of the attack, tumbled to the floor.

Flipping off of his strong leg, Ron bounded over Aisha and ran for the door. Aisha was caught in the chain and couldn't move her legs as her assailant got away. However, she noticed that the chain was still coming out of Ron's arm. Remembering the metal object she saw earlier, Aisha took her sword and, timing it perfectly, jammed her sword into one of the links, all the way into the hardwood. Caught on the floor, the chain became taut, and Ron's feet flew forward while the rest of his body didn't. Landing hard, he realized that, in the adrenaline rush, he had completely forgotten to remove the chain from the metal armband on his left arm. Yanking at the chain, the sword didn't budge, and his opponent was charging, who obviously was probably able to kick the crap out of him without a weapon. Unable to move towards the door, there was only one way to move.

"HI-YA!" Ron rolled towards Aisha, as she placed a punishing punch that cracked the floor where he had been lying an instant before hand.

Downstairs

_WHUMP_! The noises upstairs did not go unnoticed downstairs. The old man sat in a comfortable chair, twiddling his thumbs.

"Hee, hee, I knew it!" _BONK_! "Ow."

As he faced off against his opponent, Ron found that his opponent was very skilled without a sword and easily outclassed him. Ron could only dodge as Aisha threw various punch-kicks combos, all the while dodging flailing chains and getting more and more caught in the chains on the floor. Obviously losing, he threw a length of chain at Aisha, who caught it and pulled tight. Ron also pulled tight on a length of chain. The coils of chain that had been flying around suddenly became taut and wrapped up both Aisha and Ron, so that they were sandwiched together, face-to-face. Unable to move and feeling very awkward, both turned red.

"Um. Truce?"

Aisha, using what little space she could, kneed Ron right in the groin. The resulting pain forced him to drop his end of the chain and fall to the floor.

Breathing heavily, Aisha managed a smile, knowing that she had won. However, her opponent was also smiling for some reason. Looking up at his hands, she saw that he was holding the blue shirt his left hand. But, in his right hand, he was holding some sort of sash, a red sash that looked just like her's...

_Whump. _Without a sash to hold it together, her kimono fell off, leaving her standing there in her undergarments. She quickly used her hands to cover herself. Her face turned almost as red as her hair. She looked like she could have died right then of embarrassment.

Suddenly, the door opened a crack and the old man peeked in. Seeing the girl standing over top of the guy in her undergarments, he smiled and quietly said to himself, "hee hee, I knew it, I knew it!" BONK.

* * *

The next day found Aisha leading a horse across town. She still looked pissed about the night before. Ron was riding on the horse; however, only his head was visible as the rest of his body was tied up by way too much rope. His head was covered with lumps, and he was complaining the whole way.

"Aw, c'mon, Ish, it was just a joke. You can take a joke, right? You know, you don't have to take me to the constable, I'll go myself, you can trust me, okay? Please?"

"SHUT UP! Only one more block and I don't have to deal with you anymore."

Rounding the corner where the innkeeper had said the constable's post was located, Aisha suddenly became confused. These buildings didn't look like government posts; these buildings didn't even look habited. They were run down, some were destroyed by fire, and a few had collapsed. Nearby, an old man swept a porch. Aisha walked up and, with the most pleasant smile she could manage at a time like that, asked him the question.

"Excuse me, sir. Where is the constable's post?"

The old man thought for a second. "Oh, its right there." He pointed directly at one of the collapsed buildings. All the anger Aisha had felt from the night before seemed to come back. However, she calmed herself down. "Hasn't been a constable here in years. Shogun took them into the army years ago."

"Okay. That's alright. So, where is the nearest constable?"

"Hokodate." (Hokodate is at the southernmost tip of Hokkaido, about 100 miles away from Sapporo.)

Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

Aisha dropped to her knees and began to sob.

"Well, Ish, looks like you won't be turning me in today, so what do you say about letting me go and we get some sake? You know, no hard feeli- WOAH!"

Aisha grabbed the reins and was pulling the horse at almost a run.

"I'LL PUT YOU IN JAIL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"

"Hey wait, slow down, not so rough! I think I'm gonna hurl..." The two headed off in the distance as the sun began to rise.

The old man continued to sweep. He chuckled to himself. "Kids."

* * *

End Chapter 2

And so begins our story. Once again, all characters and storylines are up in the air. Right now we're in the first story arch, which involves only Kim and Ron. After next chapter Aisha will be addressed as Kim, which is great because I'm getting tired of writing Aisha. The first story arch goes on for about five chapters, then we move into the second story arch, which I have already begun crafting but won't give away any spoilers here (hint: it involves ninjas.You like ninjas, right? Of course you do.)

Also, thanks to my first reviewer. Yes, when I finished the first chapter, I did realize it had a striking resemblance to Ruroni Kenshin. However, I'm going to try and keep my fic somewhat original, and avoid ripping off Inuyasha or any other anime. However, it will have anime influences, as you can imagine the fan service from Kim's kimono falling off or the perverted old man getting whacked in teh head. Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming!


	3. I'm the Bandit King! Seriously!

This chapter rated PG-13 for language. Long chapter, but this and the next chapter are pivotal to the rest of the series.

Chapter 3: "I'm, like, the Bandit King! Seriously!"

In a land where war rules, there are two sides; those who suffer, and those who attempt to profit from chaos. However, in these two sides, there are enormous spectrums of motives and interpretations. One person's bandit is another's Robin Hood. It all depends on the point of view.

One certain night, at a location twenty-five miles south-west of Sapporo, far off the beaten trail and deep within the woods, a small wagon train sits bedded down. Several campfires are going, with various men huddling around them, and more lying around the grounds attempting to sleep. An ordinary scene, except the wagons are of the finest wood, polished to a beautiful shine, and wallpapered with beautiful flower petals. The men, however, are ragged, tattered, and most are wearing rags and bits of armor. All carry weapons. This would be a strange scene to an ordinary observer. However, these men aren't expecting observers. And the person spying on them wasn't exactly your ordinary peasant.

* * *

About five-hundred feet away from the caravan, two emerald eyes peeked out from behind a large amount of bushes. She pulled back a little, reached into her green robe, and retrieved a small brown piece of parchment. She had received it from a wandering minstrel a couple of days ago. The paper read "Bandits capture Hokosawa retainers transporting extremely valuable cargo. Estimated count: 50 bandits. Last seen along Hokodate – Sapporo highway. Large rewards paid out at Sapporo branch of Barkin's Bounties for safe return of cargo."

_Well, at least the bounty hunters are still reliable_, Aisha thought, _not like the constables_. She had been following the case from various passer-bys, though it was difficult as many would not talk to her, considering she was transporting a tied-up boy on top of a horse. However, it had helped her get the attention of a bounty hunter with very specific information. He had tried to take Ron off her hands permanently, but a quick flash of swords ended his ambitions very quickly, and opened his fat trap to a plethora of info, which had led her to where she was hiding right now.

_Ten guys still awake. The rest sleeping. ...twenty-one, twenty-three, I only count twenty-nine... under the mark but close, and these guys don't look like soldiers of the Hokosawa_. The Hokosawa were one of the two most richest and powerful families in Japan in this period. Even their lowliest soldiers were equipped with excellent weaponry. If the caravan had been carrying something so valuable that the bounty was for the cargo and not the bandit leaders, it would have been guarded by some of their best samurai. Which meant that if the bandits had taken prisoners, she could bust them out and help them make short work of the bandits.

Aisha turned her attention back to the camp. Near the fire, a silhouette moved. One of the men slowly walked over to another sleeping. The one sleeping had his arm wrapped around a bundle. The one standing slowly reached down and tried to pull it away. The sleeping man woke up and scuffled with his robber. Some of the men around them woke up groggy, others just rolled over. The men at the fire turned to watch. A little light got through and reflected on the armor, revealing a Hokosawa mark on the armor.

_Oh yeah! Got it! _Aisha smiled. She watched as one of the men who had been formerly sleeping get up and rap on a nearby wagon. This particular wagon was covered with a hard-wood top, with bars on the windows and a padlocked door on the side. The man said something to an unknown person inside the window, then laughed and walked away. A man inside shouted back threats and curses. _That must be where they're holding 'em._ _Easier than I..._"

Suddenly, she felt a sharp point being pressed against her back. "Eh, what's a young girl doing out this time of night? Best not to be snooping where you don't belong." She turned her head to see a short squat man with greasy black hair holding a pike at her.

She gave him her best smile. "I was just a little curious, mister."

The man smiled back, but it was more an evil grin. "Well, we'll have to beat that out of you." He pulled back the pike to strike.

However, his speed was nowhere near Aisha's draw. Utilizing the momentary hesitation of her opponent, she drew her sword in a wide arc and cut the man's pike in two. "Woah!" The man staggered back. Recovering his balance, he swung at the girl with the wooden stick he had left, but Aisha ducked under the blow and ran away from the camp.

"Everyone wake up! Intruder!"

Aisha looked back at the man, who was now quickly waking up his compatriots. _Crap. _Any hope of taking them by surprise was going down the tubes. Even though it pained her to do so, there was no way to save the samurai now. The only thing she could do now was run back to where she had stashed Ron and take off. She crashed through some bushes and WHAM!

Running headlong into what seemed like a wall, she bounced off what was actually a very large, muscular man. Rolling backwards and assuming a defensive position, she took a deep look at this new contact.

The man was tall, muscular, with long blond hair, greasy skin, a mustache and short beard. He wore only a chestplate and leg guards with a robe covering him from waist down. He carried a large halberd that looked well-used but still sharp. Behind him stood the missing twenty bandits. Quickly coming up from the rear were the now awake and angry bandits around the campsite. They surrounded the girl and she knew she was caught. _Great. I'd make an amazing ninja._

"Well, what do we have here? Looks like a girl up way past her bedtime. Seriously." The blond had a huge grin on his face and stood with his halberd pointed towards the sky, a cocky move especially if he knew who he was up against.

The short one spoke up. "Said she was curious."

"Well," the blond dropped the halberd down and pointed at the girl, "you know what they say about the curious kitten."

* * *

Two days earlier, Aisha and Ron had been traveling down the highway through the mountains towards Hokodate. They were making horrible time, because in two days they had only gone thirty miles. This was due to Ron's constant antics of complaining, acting sick, demanding rest stops, and his frequent escape attempts, which usually didn't get far but still slowed their pace down to less than a crawl.

Late in the afternoon, they had passed the top of a large mountain and were now making their way down. Ron, of course, was still tied up. However, that didn't keep his mouth shut. For the past hour he had insisted on singing a song in the vein of "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall" only a lot more annoying.

"Big King Crab has twenty-five legs,

crawling around the ground,

skritching, scratching all around,

pull one off, King Crab gets away,

now he only has twenty-four legs!

Big King Crab has twenty-four legs..."

"WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT?!?" Kim obviously had had enough.

Ron looked confused. "Ah, c'mon Ish, I've got nothing else to do. What do you expect me to do?"

"Well, you could try contemplating your life and the fate that awaits you in Hokodate."

"Ouch, that's cold, Ish. You do realize what they do to guys like me?"

Aisha talked as if it didn't bother her. "Yes, I do. You'll be tried and executed by the constable for living a life of thievery, a fitting end for someone like yourself."

The confused look on Ron's face only increased. "All this just because I took your sash? Can't you just let me go and we go our separate ways?"

"No!" Aisha turned to face the boy. "You lived a wicked life, therefore you have to pay for your sins! It's called honor, which is probably something a guy like you would never understand!" Ron looked directly into her eyes and saw that she was completely serious.

Without a word, she turned around and continued to lead the horse forward. Ron stayed quiet for once, but his mind was racing. One of the many skills he had picked up over the years was being able to read people's emotions. It came in handy when judging who to trust, or when someone was going to whip out a sword or knife. Seeing into Aisha's eyes, Ron had noticed that there was something behind the ferocity. Something missing. He decided to pry a little further.

"Only a few people follow honor codes these days. That would mean you're some kind of samurai, am I right?

Aisha glanced at him for a moment, hesitating. "Yeah, I'm a samurai," she finally spoke.

"Oh, okay. You been one long?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Okay, okay," Ron said, taken aback. Then he noticed her blade. It was very beautifully made, with jewels weaved into the cloth in a beautiful pattern. The blade was extremely sharp, that he knew from experience. "Hey, where'd you get the sword?"

"It was given to me by a friend."

"Can I see it?"

Aisha stopped again. "No."

"Why not?"

"This sword is very dear to me. It was given to me by a friend. Besides, I would never entrust it to a known thief."

"Aw, c'mon. I'm a lovable thief."

"Just be quiet, please?"

"Sigh. Fine." Ron decided not to press the matter further. Instead, he turned his thoughts back to his song, and his next escape attempt.

* * *

_Sigh. Ninjas make it look so easy._ About a half-hour after her scuffle with the bandits, Aisha was sitting up against the prison wagon with her hands and legs tied together. It was still the middle of the night, but the bandits were all awake now and getting ready, and some of them were giving her glances and leers. Her sword had been taken away from her. She suddenly felt very lonely. _Well, this was an absolute bust. Captured by bandits, lost my precious sword. If my brothers ever find out about this they'll never let me live it down. Well, at least that stupid thief isn't here to make me feel miserable._"

"HEY BOSS, look what we found!" As if on cue several bandits came into the clearing leading the horse carrying Ron. Ron, somehow, was still asleep.

The blond leader walked up to the horse and looked at Ron. "Hey, boy. HEY BOY! Wake up!'

"Huh, wha, no mommy, I don't want to go to school today."

"Hey, boy. What are you doing all tied up? Seriously, some bounty hunter gitcha?

"Who are you guys?" Ron asked groggily.

"DON'T ASK THAT!" A voice cried out from inside the prison wagon, startling Aisha.

"Who are we?" the bandits cried in unison. They all quickly converged on one spot.

"WELLLLLLLLLLLLL....

We are the mighty mountain thieves,

carrying mighty swords and reaves,

we rob from one and all,

with never a lull,

oh we are the mountain thieves!"

Aisha was stunned. "They're singing?" The voice from inside the car spoke again. "There's another refrain."

"Annnndddd here's our leader Moto Ed,

don't be fooled by the hair on his head,

he'll kill you good, he'll kill you dead,

and that is why we sing,

Moto Ed the bandit KINGGGGGG...,

boy, doesn't that have a nice ring!"

Despite being in the middle of nowhere, the show was filled with confetti, bandits dressed up as Kabuki dancers, and even a flamingo.

Aisha looked ready to commit seppuku right there. Ron was more receptive. "The floor show was good, but the lyrics could use a new writer, Mr.?"

"Moto Ed, Bandit King." He flipped his blond hair over his shoulder.

Ron smiled. "Hello Moto. Its great that you guys found me, cause I'm a bandit just like you guys and I was just traveling along my way..."

"Hey boss!" Ron and Ed looked at two bandits now next to Aisha. One held Aisha's chin up to get a good look at her while the other rapped on the bars of the wagon to mess with whoever was inside. Aisha bit the man holding her head. "OUCH!"

The boss man laughed, his arms folded. "Heh, heh. Just do whatever you want with her."

Ron kept talking. "...to ransom her! Yeah, that's right, I was going to ransom that girl for money. You see, she's a Yamana daughter."

This caught Moto Ed's attention. "Seriously, dude? She's one of the Yamana daughters?"

"Oh yeah." The Yamana's were the other richest and most powerful family in Japan. They had several daughters, whom they married off to other powerful families, creating alliances and giving them an advantage over the Hokosawa. The ransom reward for one would be huge.

"HOLD IT," Moto Ed shouted. "She's valuable to us. Put her in the wagon with the others." The two bandits grumbled but did what they were told.

Ron sighed in relief. "Yeah, I was taking her to Hokodate, when she tied me up while I was sleeping, the sneak. Gave me a lot of trouble, she did. You guys can have her, now if you'd only untie me, this rope is giving me a rash."

"Nope."

"Hey, I'm helping you guys out. I'm one of you!"

"Sure you are, Ron Stoppable."

"Oh boy. I'm guessing if you know my name, that can't be good."

Ed grinned at Ron. Ron, nervous, grinned back. Suddenly, Ed rammed his forearm into Ron, throwing him off the horse. Ed walked over and picked Ron up by the throat, holding him in the air with considerable strength.

"I know who you are. Not only does your boss make me eat my words, your group went and broke into my fortress last month. Took every bit of treasure and left me broke. But I intend to change that."

Ron gasped and wheezed for air. "C-can't breathe!"

"Tell me where Kaiden's treasure is, dude."

"K-K-kyoto!"

"Smart boy. Seriously."

He threw Ron to the ground, who gasped at air. Ed grabbed the ropes holding Ron and dragged him towards the wagons.

* * *

"Well boys, we hit the jackpot today!" Moto Ed addressed his men, who cheered in unison. "The Hokosawa brooch, a bounty hunter who'll fetch a huge bounty on his own head, a Yamana daughter, and a guide to Kaiden's treasure. We so rule!" A mighty cheer went up from the bandits. "Alright, let's move out! The sun rises in about six hours, and we need to make some time before the roads get packed." The bandits hitched up on the wagons and horses and headed out.

Inside the prison wagon, Aisha and Ron huddled near each other, surrounded by about ten men. All the men were gruff looking and battle-worn. Aisha felt out of place.

One of the men spoke up. "Look at this. You know you're screwed when they send kids to save you." Some of the men laughed.

"Hey, leave them alone." Aisha recognized the voice as the man who had yelled from the wagon earlier. She looked over to see a man, probably in his earlier twenties, clean-shaven with a lop-top, sitting next to a balding old man with a huge beard. The man spoke again. "I believe introductions are in order. My name is Jiro, of the Hokosawa elite guard. This is my father, Yujiro, the leader of our band." The old man grunted. "We were transporting a valuable family heirloom when these bandits attacked and caught us by surprise. There are about thirty of us, but they split the rest of us into other wagons. Who are you?"

Aisha spoke first. "My name is Aisha Kimbre Possible. I'm a... well...um, I want to be a samurai."

Ron quickly looked at her in shock. He was about to speak, when another voice spoke up.

"You're not a Yamana." It was more a statement than a question. "I knew it." The voice came from a man in one of the corners. He was square-jawed, clean-shaven, and had a shaved head. His clothes were well-made and designed solely for combat, unlike the beautifully ordained robes of the retainers. His armor was custom-made. Everything about him screamed soldier of fortune. "I know about every kidnapping, assassination, and bounty from here to Okinawa. Nothing goes down without my knowledge. And I personally know that all the Yamanas are safe."

Aisha looked annoyed. "And just who are you?"

The man had a gravely voice. "My name is Mamoichi Barkin."

"Of Barkin's Bounties?"

"So you've heard of me. Why are you both here?"

"I was given this paper." She held up the brown piece of parchment.

Barkin looked at it with interest. "Ah, one of my bounties. Did you come to get the Hokosawa brooch?"

"What's that?" Up to that point, everyone in the wagon listened to the two of them speak. Now, Jiro joined in.

"The Hokosawa brooch is a family heirloom. In our tradition, the daughters of the Hokosawa wear the brooch on their wedding day to bring good luck and fortune to their families. It is also a sign of good faith, as legend has it the brooch was blessed by the gods. Without it, our princesses will not be able to marry without angering the spirits."

Barkin spoke up again. "It's an extremely important spiritual artifact to the Hokosawa, and crucial to their way of life; therefore, it's care is entrusted only to their most elite samurai."

"That doesn't explain why you're here." Jiro asked the question this time, his voice hinting that the bounty hunter had not been invited.

Barkin gave him a quiet stare, then explained himself. "Think about it, soldier-boy. Bandits take down a group of elite samurai of an extremely powerful family. Not only that, but they claim the Hokosawa's most valuable family heirloom. Pretty much sign their death warrant right there. The possibilities of getting caught in the middle of a political stand-off are huge. You think any ordinary hunter would be stupid enough to take this job? That's why your daimyo hired me directly."

Jiro rolled his eyes. "And you've done so much to help us."

"Why you..." Barkin started to move towards Jiro.

"QUIET! ALL OF YOU!" Everyone in the wagon froze as the samurai leader spoke.

Yujiro resembled his son, except age had narrowed his eyes to slits resembling the many scars on his face from years of service. He was balding on top, but his beard was thick and white.

"Your story is intriguing, Barkin-san, but we still have not learned why the girl is here." His speech was polite and his voice strong yet filled with dignity and respect. The mere sound of his voice brought his men to full attention. "Young woman," he addressed Aisha, "you wish to be samurai, correct?"

"Yes," Aisha said with a nod.

"Then you realize that fighting for personal gain is frowned upon and can lead to dishonor?"

"Yes."

"Answer this question truthfully. No one else speak. Why are you here?"

Kim looked down and took a deep breath. She looked at the samurai leader, and he looked back at her inquisitively. He reminded her so much of her father.

"I was born in a village deep within the mountains of central Hokkaido. It was founded by samurai as a training ground, to raise strong and disciplined warriors away from the politics of the lords."

"I've heard of this place," the old man interrupted, "they say it was founded centuries ago by the legendary Jubei, and only the best samurai are allowed to enter and teach. I thought it was only a legend. I would be honored to visit someday. But, enough of that, go on."

"From a young age, I trained with the other children to be a samurai. I wanted nothing more than to be a mighty samurai, and I worked to be the best. But, when my friends were all sent out into the world, I couldn't go with them, because my parents aren't samurai. My mother is a healer and my father an astrologer. They were brought into the village for their services."

"But according to the Shogun's code, changing class is prohibited, and class movement accords very rarely. I'm starting to understand your plight."

Aisha liked the fact that she had someone who understood what she was trying to accomplish. She continued with her story. "The village elders told me to become a priest or a useful profession like my parents. But I just couldn't stay there and be a maid," her eyes started to tear up, and she wiped them away. "I needed to get out and find my place in the world. So, about two months ago, I left the village and proceeded south. I had hoped to find other samurai and prove myself, so that they would allow me to join them. If not, I thought that if I went to Kyoto, I could ask the emperor to grant my wish to become a samurai. I know it sounds strange, but it is my dream. When I saw that bounty, I decided that if I could save you all, perhaps you would help me on my way. " She fell silent. Not a person in the wagon dared to speak after that amazing story. Even Yujiro was impressed with the young woman.

Finally, after much deliberation in his head, Yujiro spoke.

"Your story is amazing, and I have no doubt of your convictions. However, your logic is a little flawed. Being a samurai isn't just about learning new skills and fighting battles. It is a way of life. First, I am deeply troubled that you left your family in the middle of the night. The foundation of one's honor is in how we treat our parents, for if you cannot deal with those who brought you into this world, how can you interact with others? Secondly, you currently have no master. So who would you say you serve? I pose these two questions before you not to chastise you, but to make you think." The old samurai paused to let his words sink in, then took a long breath and began again.

"What I want you to do is, if we make it out of here, you go back to your family and you discuss with them your chosen path in life. Rethink your choices, and if you still desire the way of the warrior, make sure your parents understand and support your decision. When you embark on the path to becoming a samurai, search for causes, not lords. For if you join a daimyo, you may find yourself put off by your lord, which could lead you down the path to dishonor, for why should one fight for a person you care nothing about? However, if you find a worthy cause, you will fight for it to the end and beyond. Just like us." All the samurai smiled and nodded their heads. Barkin stayed quiet and expressionless in the corner. He was looking towards the wall in deep thought.

Aisha had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. No one had ever made her life seem so clear to her. "Thank you." She pulled out a locket from inside her robes. She opened it and looked at the picture inside of her parents.

She turned to look at Ron. He was looking down, his eyes covered by his hair. "Ron, are you okay?"

"Why didn't you tell me, Ish? You told me you were a samurai. I believed in you when you talked about honor."

"Ron." Aisha wanted to say she was sorry. She brushed back his hair. What she saw surprised her.

Ron's eyes were lit up and seemed to be sparkling. His mouth was trembling, and his eyes began to water. "That story was so inspiring!" Aisha did an anime fall.

Ron stood up. "I swear that I will help you find your dreams!" He struck a pose.

All of a sudden the ropes wrapped around him fell down to his feet in a neat pile.

Kim was shocked. "You could have gotten out of there at any time!"

Ron smiled. "Actually, no. I've been fooling with the rope since we left Sapporo. Only got it the way I wanted it today, but then those bandits found me and I wanted to see if they had any treasure. So I pretended to be asleep."

Aisha was pissed again. She looked like steam was about to pop out of her head.

"But it worked out for the best, huh Ish?"

She got up in his face. "Why did you stick around then?!?"

Ron was leaning back with his eyes wide open. However, after Aisha's question, he quickly leaned in close to Aisha's face and narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, I have my reasons." He licked his lips.

Now it was Aisha's turn to lean back. "Don't even think about it."

"Ahhhhh," Ron opened his mouth wide, lifted up his tongue, and reached under it with his index finger and thumb. He pulled out a tiny key. "Just kidding!"

* * *

The sun was rising on the wagon train. Moto Ed was riding in the very first wagon. He had spent the last several hours leading his band on a twisting and turning path in order to avoid the main roads. The night had gone peacefully, but with the sun coming up they would have to find a hiding place to wait out the day. Night was a bandit's best friend.

Suddenly, one of his bandits flew up to the first wagon on his horse, shouting at them to turn around. Moto Ed looked behind him to see half of the wagon train stopped several hundred feet behind them. The rest were turning around to regroup.

"Finally, some action!" Ed, cut the reins from one of the horses, then jumped on and raced back to the other wagons.

When he got there, he found the prisoners escaped and fighting hand-to-hand with the bandits. Since their weapons had been taken, the samurai were outmatched. They fought valiantly, but when Moto Ed and the rest of the bandits reinforced their comrades, the samurai were pushed back and surrounded.

Moto Ed once again laughed triumphantly. "Seriously, did you really believe you could defeat me, the Bandit King?"

"Ed, you're not going to like this." The squat bandit looked scared.

"What is it? Seriously, you're cramping my victory here."

"We've been robbed!"

"WHAT!" Ed looked over at the wagon the squat bandit was standing next to. The door was wide open and the inside was completely bare. This wagon had been the one carrying the Hokosawa brooch, plus a variety of other treasure.

Ed looked out at the cornered prisoners. The samurai were there, the bounty hunter was there, and the girl was there. The only one missing was...

"The boy!" Ed slapped his face in disgust. "He robbed me blind again!"

"Phew, he got you good."

"Seriously, dude..." Turning in the direction of the voice, Ed found himself staring directly at the goofish grin of one Ron Stoppable.

"YOU!" Ed swung at Ron with his halberd, but Ron easily rolled under it and bounded on top of one of the wagons. "I'll get you!"

"You might want to concentrate on what's in front of you." Moto Ed turned to find his bandits falling back slowly as the rest of the samurai joined their friends. And these samurai were armed. "I thought the sides needed to be evened a little bit. Oh, Ish!" Ron tossed her sword to her. She caught it in one hand. "I know it means a lot to you."

She smiled back at him. "Thanks Ron! And don't call me Ish. Call me Kim! All my friends do!" They both smiled at each other. Ron gave a little salute.

"Where you going, Ron?"

"I gotta follow my own dreams, Kim! Maybe I'll see you again. Till then!" He rolled backwards off the wagon. The next time anyone saw him, he was taking off at breakneck speed on a stolen horse loaded up with all the bandit's treasures.

Moto Ed was stunned. All of his treasure was gone. "Seriously, we have to stop him!"

"What about the samurai?" All the bandits looked at the samurai nervously. They had taken the samurai in cheap sneak attack. But now, the samurai were regrouped, rearmed, and extremely angry. Kim positioned her sword in attack position and readied to draw.

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, Moto Ed made the only decision a bandit would make in a situation like that. "RUN AWAY!"

All the bandits turned tail and headed for the horses. However, the samurai weren't going to take this sitting down.

"COWARDS!" Yujiro cried. "CHARGE!" Jiro and Kim yelled. The samurai raced forward.

There were only so many horses, so the unlucky bandits too slow to grab one were stuck to fight the bloodthirsty samurai. Rather than fight, they all surrendered instantly.

Moto Ed had managed to get onto a horse; however, he had jumped on facing the wrong way and now held on for dear life. "You haven't seen the last of meeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

* * *

Yujiro, Jiro, and Barkin stood with Kim Possible as the rest of the samurai locked up the bandits in the wagons. A Hokosawa search party had found them and provided fresh horses for the wagons. The samurai were now over two hundred strong, and would have no trouble reaching their destination.

Barkin was still all business. "Well, we won the battle, but we lost the cargo. Sorry about that. This job will be no charge."

Suddenly, a cheer went up. "We found it! We found it! We found the brooch!"

"Where?" Jiro shouted.

"It was on top of one of the wagons. That boy must have left it up there."

"Haha, that's great!" Jiro went off with the other samurai.

Barkin turned to Yujiro. "Never mine then."

He then turned and bowed to Kim. "You showed a lot of guts fighting those bandits, kiddo. If the samurai thing doesn't work out," he pulled out a card, "there's a job waiting for you. Plus, if you ever need any help or supplies, stop by one of our branches. That card will give you special privileges." Mounting a waiting horse, Mamoichi Barkin spurred the horse on and took off.

Kim turned her attention to Yujiro, who was smiling at her. "I have a grand-daughter a little younger than you. Every time I see her, growing up so fast, I think about how much time has passed. All the training, all the battles, serving one lord after another. Sometimes, I wonder if my life meant something. Then, I look at my grand-daughter, and I know that I will always have my family to fall back on. Remember that, Kim Possible."

"I will."

"We are fifteen miles away from Hokodate. We could give you a lift."

"No thanks. I'll walk. I have a lot of things to think about."

"I understand. Thank you very much, Kim Possible, for your inspiration. It is my greatest wish that someday you honor my home at the Hokosawa's city."

"It would be my pleasure."

Yujiro stepped up onto one of the wagons. "YAH!" The driver of the wagon spurred on the horses and the wagon train took off. Yujiro watched Kim until the wagons disappeared over the horizon.

The wind blew gently over the mountains, and ran through Kim's hair. She felt exhilarated, as if she had a new lease on life. The sun had now risen. It was going to be a beautiful day.

She wondered where Ron had gone too. Though he was a thief, today he had proven that maybe he wasn't such a bad guy. She had a lot to think about. Reaching into her robe, she searched to pull out her locket.

And searched. And searched. The locket was gone. Suddenly, she realized what had happened.

_THAT BASTARD!_

"I'm going to kill you, Ron Stoppable!"

She charged off towards Hokodate.

End Chapter

* * *

Long chapter. Took me a while to write, but this chapter and the next is extremely important for setting the tone for the rest of the series. Kim is a little OOC in this chapter. However, this series is about growing up as well as samurai's and ninja's and all the other cool stuff. You'll see how each character deals with friends, family, and life choices, in a very interesting time period. But I promise it won't become preachy or boring.

Once again, I don't own Kim Possible.

Next Chapter: Kim has a lot to think about, and she's going to get some enlightenment from a buddhist child prodigy named... Wade?


	4. Buddha you think you are?

Yujiro and Jiro are not Senor Senior Sr. and Jr. I realize there are some similarities, but I have different plans for those two. For now, the two elite samurai are fan characters.

* * *

Chapter 4 "Buddha you think you are?"

"Huff! Puff! GASP!" Near the end of the mountainous path from Sapporo to Hokodate, a man ran as fast as he could to escape several bandits chasing him. The man was dressed in monk robes, his head was shaved, and even as he ran his hands were clasped in prayer.

Running down the dangerous mountain path, he came to a dip in the road and lost his footing. Falling face forward, he rolled down the mountain path and came to a stop at a nearby level clearing. The men raced after him and quickly surrounded him in the clearing. The monk sat up, but the men surrounded him quickly. The monk fell to his knees in prayer.

"Give us all your valuables!" The men began closing in.

The monk spoke calmly. "Please, my brothers and I do not believe in material wealth. I have nothing of interest to you. Leave me alone, and I will forgive you for your misdeeds."

One of the bandits, a man with shaggy black hair and one eye, twirled a knife in his hand. "Don't give us that. You monks act all benevolent with your vows of poverty, and then you retreat into your temples filled with gold. Don't believe in material wealth, HA! Everyone wants a piece, even you."

The monk gave him a nasty look. "You poor man. You don't understand at all."

The bandit charged. "I understand that you'll be dead!"

The monk closed his eyes and chanted as his executioner bore down. The bandit swung his spear with all his might.

_Whoosh!_ The bandit stumbled forward as his mighty swing hit nothing but air.

"Picking on a monk? That's pretty low, even for you." The bandits all turned to see a teenage girl wearing a green robe with brown bottom in front of the monk. They were amazed at how she had moved the monk away so quickly, none more so than the monk himself.

"Praise the spirits," the monk said before proceeding to pass out.

_Well, looks like this is up to me._ Kim readied her sword.

"This doesn't involve you," the head bandit said.

Kim rolled her eyes. "They always say that. Is there some kind of bandit school that you all go to and learn the wimpy battle cries?"

All the bandits charged. "We'll get you!"

Kim drew. "Come on!"

* * *

Finally out of the mountains, Kim and the monk stopped at a roadside bazaar to look at the various wares and get some food. The bazaar was situated in a clearing at the bottom of a temple. The clearing was very beautiful, as the temple and its surroundings were well kept by the monks and ex-warriors living there. On the other side was a river, where various villagers washed their clothes and bathed their children. Kim got a rice bowl and sat by the river, watching the kids play. The monk sat down beside her.

"Do you believe in faith?" A strange question, but then again he was a monk.

Kim responded. "I think the expression is 'do you believe in fate'. Do you mean faith in god, or faith in your fellow man?"

The monk smiled. "Ah, a rational answer. Today I had my faith reaffirmed. I prayed to the spirits, prepared to take my leave of this world. Then, like waking up from a long dream, I was alive once again."

Kim listened quietly. "There are so many religions that claim the only way to live is in complete servitude to an intangible force, as if our lives had no meaning except as spiritual slaves. However, I believe that our relationship with the spirits is reciprocal. If we regard them with respect, they will watch over us and guide us. So, you see, fate and faith are intertwined, one and the same. My faith saved my fate and renewed my faith. Yin and Yang."

Kim took a sip of her tea. "That's very interesting."

"Excuse me." A sweet little voice piped up next to Kim. She looked to see a little old lady holding a tray filled with some kind of food. "Please have one. They are a foreign food called cheese."

"Oh, but I can't. I have no money."

The old women smiled. "It's alright. A gift for a lovely young girl."

Kim took two pieces. She ate one and put the other one in her pocket. "Mmm... it's very good, ma'am." The old woman looked at her one more time and walked away.

Now the monk spoke up. "That was very kind of her. It was also kind of you to take it. Kindness and gentleness are excellent virtues of character. They allow respect for life, a necessary virtue for someone wishing to be a samurai."

That comment caught Kim's attention. "How did you...?"

The monk never lost his smile. "Remember what I said about faith and fate? It was our fate to meet. Why you ask? You wanted help sorting out the many thoughts and emotions going through your young mind. Your thoughts were heard. I was told that I would be saved by a young woman on the mountain. I feared for my life, but I had faith in the man who told me to go. It is that man who heard you and wishes to meet you. Faith and fate, Kim Possible."

"Who is this man?"

"He is wise and it is rumored that he is omnipotent. But rather than use his power for his own gain, he uses it to protect and guide humans. He has seen that you are in need of guidance. Would you like to meet him?"

Kim thought for a moment. "Okay. Let's go see him. Where is he?"

The monk pointed up towards the temple. "At the top of these stairs."

* * *

The two headed up the stairs out of the clearing and towards the temple. Reaching the final step where the ground leveled, Kim headed forward towards the temple. On the step sat an old man with long white hair and a Fu Manchu beard. He wore beautiful priest clothes and sat in a full lotus position. He looked wise and dignified. Kim started to walk towards him.

"Where are you going?" Kim turned to see the monk headed in another direction.

"I thought we were headed towards the temple?"

"Yes. But not that temple." He pointed.

Kim looked over to see another staircase that she hadn't noticed before. These stairs were old and decrepit. They went into the brush and woods, and Kim couldn't see very far into the trees before the stairs disappeared.

The monk headed up as if he had headed this way a million times before. Kim followed. After a few minutes, it became very dark and a fog seemed to settle in. They were still headed up, and Kim thought that by now they had to be above the temple. However, the fog was so thick she couldn't see anything when she looked back towards where they had came.

She stopped. _I don't like this_. "Where are we going?"

The monk kept walking. "Please don't stop. We have a long way to go and you need to stay close to me so you don't get lost. All your questions will be answered shortly." He started to disappear in the mist.

Kim looked at the disappearing figure of the monk. Grunting, she moved quickly to catch up.

* * *

After more than an hour of walking up stairs, Kim was getting more and more anxious. Had they headed back into the mountains? It was impossible to tell. They couldn't have, since the distance they had traveled dwarfed any of the mountains she had passed on Hokkaido.

Her companion had not said anything at all this entire hour. He had kept walking forward, never looking back or checking to make sure if she was still following. She wondered if this was another of his fate sayings.

Suddenly, the fog seemed to intersect the monk in two. He completely disappeared in the mist! Kim, shocked, rushed forward into the blinding cloud cover –

and came out looking straight into blue sky. She stopped for a moment to get her bearings. Looking around, she was high in the air. Scratch that. She was high up all right. On top of a massive mountain range. For miles, all she could see were mountain-tops, snow covered protrusions sticking out above the cloud cover. They were above the lowest level of clouds, so the ground floor was obscured from view. The mountain she was on was also covered in snow. From what she could tell, it was also the highest around. The thing that caught her attention the most was the sky. It was a deep shade of blue. Even the cherry blossoms of home couldn't compare to the majesty of this scene. The staircase rode up the mountain like a backbone.

"Hurry, we're almost there." Kim looked up. Her monk companion had finally turned around, that same smile having never left his face.

Kim, reenergized, charged up the stairway past the monk. "Race you to the top!"

The monk did not change his pace, but the young woman racing past him did not bother him. "Ah, the majesty of youth." Clearly, the monk had a very optimistic view of life.

Kim raced to the top of the stairs at full speed. The staircase still had a ways to go, but she could see the end. The roof of a building rose above the stairway, and Kim knew she was almost there.

Coming to the landing, she was out of breath, but the race up the stairs reminded her of the races she used to have with her friends. The nostalgia of youth filled her with happiness, even as she bent over, hands on her knees, huffing and puffing.

Recovering, she looked up and took in the temple that arose before her. It was massive, an architect's dream, a combination of Chinese and Japanese culture, plus a style all its own. The building was red and orange, the orange matching the monk's robes. The columns were painted with scenes from Japanese and Chinese folklore, as well as what looked like the history of the monks and the temple. The roof was purely Japanese, with pagodas and dragon rain-spouts. Mighty doors covered in gold topped off what could have passed for an emperor's palace. Two monks sat in front of the door. To say that they were guarding the place would be an overstatement. They were merely meditating in front of it. As Kim looked around, she noticed other monks around meditating, gardening, or working on upkeep for the temple.

The monk finally reached the summit. "Ah, my brothers are hard at work."

Kim couldn't help but smirk at the suggestion. "I see there are no guards. Not that you would need any considering how _easy_ it is to find this place."

"My brethren are a peaceful band. However, the conditions of this world do not embrace our way of life. Therefore, we find it necessary to conceal our temple and only bring here those who truly desire enlightenment."

The monk headed for the door. A little distance from the door, he stopped where a green triangle was drawn on the ground and bowed. A bell rang. The door opened, yet the monks in front of it did not move. The monk turned to Kim.

"Come."

The two walked inside. Hundreds of monks were lined up in columns, all in a full lotus position and all chanting. The noise was intense but also bearable. Kim had never seen so many candles before. At the end of the walkway, a curtain covered a platform in front of a massive gold statue of Buddha. Kim followed the monk towards the platform. Once they got a few feet away from it, the monk dropped to his knees and bowed. Kim merely bowed standing up.

"Hello, Kim Possible." A voice spoke from behind the curtain.

"Who are you?"

"I am called the Dali Lama. I am the manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion, who chooses rebirth for the purpose of serving human beings. I assist those in need and give them wisdom. Some would call me god. But, you can call me Wade."

"Wade?" Kim gave another little smirk.

"The name my parents gave me. I have seen your plight, and I wish to help. You are perplexed, Kim Possible, because while you have high ambitions, mortal laws forbid you from attaining your goal. Yet, through dedication and sheer will alone, you have attained excellent values and a motivating force through life. I have seen this, and it interests me. But, I would like to hear it from you. What is your goal in life?"

"To become a samurai."

"Yet you cannot. According to the laws of Japan, women cannot become samurai. Also, you are not born to the warrior caste, so you are not allowed to even wield a weapon. Yet you still dedicate your life to this intangible goal?"

"Yes. It's all I want."

"I see. How are you going to achieve this goal?"

"By asking the emperor to make me a samurai."

"Hah!"

Kim was getting irate. "What's so funny?"

"The emperor is a man who thinks he is a god, merely because his position came from the blood of his ancestors. Right now, with the civil war on, he does not even have power. Think. What can a god do that has no power? No such being exists in the stories of man. I have another question for you. A god decides to give the gift of immortality to two men. One has lived his life in ease and bliss. He has done nothing to help his fellow man. He lives in greed and eats more than he needs, giving none to those in need. The other gives all his possessions to the poor except for his sword, which he uses to defend those poor from predators. He lives a life of honor and dies defending those he loves. Now, who deserves immortality?"

"The man who lived honorably."

"No. The god gives immortality to the weaker of the two. Eventually, this man becomes bored with life and riches. After centuries of life, he loses all grasp of reality, and becomes a shattered shell of himself, trapped in a living hell. If the god gave immortality to the stronger of the two, he would become lazy and unafraid of death. He would become just like the weaker of the two. Do you understand?"

"No," Kim said, extremely confused.

"The lesson is simple. If we fear death, if we run from it, it masters us. But, if we accept death as an inevitability, it will guide us to our duty. Who is your duty to?"

Kim knew this one. "To my family. Then my friends. And finally, my country."

Wade continued his teaching. "But what about to others? To the simple folk who you see every day, to the men and women who live and work and never seek anything beyond simple virtues."

"I, protect them?"

"Do you?"

Kim thought for a moment. "I've defended others from bandits, whenever they're attacked."

"But do you go out of your to seek other people's problems, to assist them in their troubles?"

"No."

"And neither do the samurai. They follow their masters, and do not care about the peasants beyond the needs of their lords. That is why I wanted to speak to you. If you became a samurai, you would live by this code. However, what if the emperor did not grant your wish? What would you do?"

"I... I don't know." Kim closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "I would continue to try to live by the code of the samurai."

"Excellent. I had hoped you would say that." All the candles in the room dimmed, and a purplish-red smoke arose from behind the curtain. It swirled up into the air and shaped began appearing in it. The shapes became faces and Kim recognized them as people.

"In this world, there are many who are innocent. They have no desire to seek power or wealth for themselves beyond what they need to support themselves and those they love. They need to be protected from those who seek to take what they have."

More faces appeared, these as various as the ones before them. Some had smirks and grins across their faces. "Then there are those who are not complacent with their desires. They seek more than they have. However, they are not evil. Just misaligned and in need of teaching. They need to be shown a model of how to live."

Again, the faces changed. This time, the faces that appeared were gruff and serious. Some wore mighty armor on their heads, while other's faces were twisted into malicious smiles. "These are those who have chosen corruption and greed as the ways to rule their lives. They must be stopped, either by the sword or by some other means."

The clouds disappeared and the candles lit again, as if by some magical hand.

"To accomplish these goals, Kim Possible, would be a difficult task for a hundred ordinary men. But if one extraordinary man were to accomplish even a few of these tasks, he would be remembered in the hearts and minds of those whom he assisted. That is why I have brought you here, Kim Possible. I have watched over the people of Terra (Earth), I have seen the troubles they go through in life, and I wish that I could reach out and ease their suffering. But, I cannot. That is why I seek vessels, good people such as yourself whom I can make my will be done through. I wish for you to assist me. From time to time, I will give you tasks to perform or people to help. All I ask in return is that you accomplish these tasks. Then, even if you do not become a samurai, the people will remember you for your good deeds, and remember you as a great woman. Some would say that is the greatest honor of all. Do you wish to help me?"

The temple fell silent. Kim had kept her eyes closed through the speech, listening intently. The monks leaned in to hear her reply.

Kim opened her eyes and smiled. "Yes."

The monks all clapped.

Suddenly, the voice shot out. "Then, Kim Possible, prepare for your first challenge!"

Kim moved her feet into a defensive position. She reached for her sword. She didn't want to draw in a temple, but what choice did she have? Then, she noticed one of the monks walking towards her holding a box out in front of him. He opened the box to reveal...

"A hairless rodent?" Kim looked at the sleeping creature with fascination.

The voice spoke again, this time at his normal tone. "Naked mole rat, to be exact."

"Yawn!" The rodent woke up and rubbed his eyelids.

"Your first challenge is to take care of this creature. A person's skill says nothing about a person's character. This test, however, forces you to take care of a living being. It is a test of your character, Kim Possible. If you take good care of him, he will grow strong and loyal. If not, he will become spoiled and rotten, and I will know."

Kim reached down to pick up the naked mole rat. The rodent, shocked that someone he didn't know would violate his personal space, slapped Kim's hand.

"Rufus! Behave!" "Hmph!" the little guy said.

"Rufus?" Just when Kim thought things couldn't get weirder.

The voice spoke again. "He'll be fine. He just needs a little training. Now, for your second challenge. In Hokodate, a young lord is holding a foreigner hostage in his mansion. At first, he was going to hold her for ransom, but he has since become enamored with her fiery personality, and has decided to marry her. However, she refuses, so the lord is forcing her on pain of death. Marriage is a spiritual bond between two people, so forcing a person into a sham marriage destroys the balance. Your challenge is to save the foreign girl. After you complete this, I will send you new challenges."

Kim picked up Rufus, still crossing his little arms in contempt. "But how will I know its you if I don't know what you look like?"

"You will always feel my presence." The wind in the temple picked up to a gentle breeze, and a single cherry blossom fell from the clearing in the roof into Kim's hair. She picked the blossom out. Attached was a note. _Become a great woman._

Kim smiled, bowed, and left the temple.

Back outside, she turned her attention to her new traveling pet.

"Better get used to me. We're going to be together for a while."

_PHBBT! _The rodent stuck out his tongue.

Kim thought for a moment, then Kim remembered. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out.

"Look what I've got."

Rufus looked at the piece of food in her hand. His eyes lit up.

"Cheese!" He quickly gobbled down the food. Then he climbed onto Kim's shoulder and began giving her little kisses on the cheek.

"Hah, hah!" Kim laughed. _Fate and faith indeed._

End Chapter

* * *

The end of another chapter. Due to school and time constraints, updates will become less frequent. I'm going to try to keep it at three a week, but we'll see. I really want to hammer out the first arch before I lose focus and this fic dies like my other one. Next update should be Friday/Saturday.

To the reviewer who said girls can't become samurai: 1) I explained that in Chapter 3 and again in this chapter. 2) Its fan-fiction. Fan-FICTION. 3) It adds to the conflict. I won't debate the psychology of a cartoon teen super-hero, but Kim is an up-standing, justice-giving heroine whose also very stubborn (just check out her motto "I can do anything!"), which translates well to this fic. I don't think I could make her a thief, because except for the acrobatics, it wouldn't mesh well with her character.

Plus, though I've tried to keep these first few characters as realistic as possible, I'm going to throw in some fantasy and supernatural elements starting next chapter, which is okay because this story is fiction. Keep the reviews coming, and remember, if you have a great idea, I'd like to hear it.

Next Chapter:

Kim must stop the forced marriage of an effeminate lord to a foreigner with an attitude. But when the tables are turned and the lord realizes he's bit off more than he can chew, everything goes nuts! Is Kim in over her head?

Find out in the next chapter, "The Princess and the Pompous."


	5. The Princess and the Pompous!

Remember what I said about updates? Forget it. This chapter took way too long to write. However, I have to say its one of my best yet.

Chapter 5 "The Princess and the Pompous."

_It's been said that girls don't dress for guys; they dress for each other. It's a contest of self-indulgence. Guys don't pick it up, because they're simple-minded. So what would happen if one of them tried to join the game?_

The elders had always said the life of a warrior wasn't all it was cracked up to be. They talked about many hours of dead time, or days spent simply traveling around or training, all while their patience waned and their boredom became overwhelming.

However, they had said, when the action picked up, it was the most exhilarating days of their lives, and they would not trade these fleeting moments for anything. Kim understood that now. After two months of walking around doing nothing, in only one day she had been a prisoner of bandits, escaped with other samurai, got a job recommendation from a bounty hunter, saved a monk from certain doom, ate lunch, then had her life changed forever by a guy named Wade. All this had happened long before the afternoon was old. What amazed her even more was that when she arrived back at the shrine after her trip to the monk's temple, she was perplexed to find out that somehow time had slowed. She thought it had taken several hours to climb up the long staircase, meet Wade, then climb back down. The priest at the shrine told her that she had only been gone a half-hour. So the afternoon was still young, and she thought she could probably reach Hokodate, save the princess, and be on her way by dinner-time.

* * *

In the middle of the afternoon, Kim finally reached a village on the outskirts of Hokodate. The town was guarded by a huge wall, so Kim had to signal one of the guards at the main gate that she was just a traveler passing through.

"Unh, Unh!" Rufus pointed towards his mouth and rubbed his stomach.

Kim smiled. "Don't worry, little guy. That'll be the first thing we do."

Rufus gave a little cheer.

"But we're not going to stay here long. I need to head home, so we're not going to waste anytime fooling around. Break up the wedding, save a foreigner, and hightail it home. No big!"

The gate opened a little to allow Kim to enter. She waved at the guard. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." It was a female voice. Kim thought nothing of it.

"Now, all we have to do is ask around and figure out where this wedding is taking place."

Stepping through the gate, her question was instantly answered. The first thing she noticed was how everything in the village was decorated in celebration of a wedding. And I mean everything. Peasants were putting up banners, streamers, and signs all in pink and red, vendors sold flowers and gifts, and every store was packed with people buying beautiful clothes, expensive make-up, and gifts for the marriage. Other than that, the village was very simple, a few two-storied homes popping out amongst the mostly one-storied houses, and the roads were laid out in a very geometric order, with the road she had entered on being the main street.

The second thing that Kim noticed was that all of the peasants walking around on the main street were all _women_. As she looked up and down the street, she couldn't see even one man walking or shopping or even standing around! The streets and shops were filled with women, women were running the vendors and putting up the decorations, and women were just milling about on their everyday chores. There wasn't a man in sight.

Suddenly, a loud cheer went up from a large building at the end of the street. Kim decided to walk over and check it out.

Coming near to where she heard the cheer, she noticed a large pavilion packed with women. They were dancing, cheering, and also drinking. Kim realized that it was probably a wedding party.

Entering inside the pavilion, the women were seated around large tables filled with food and drinks. They had gathered themselves into various groups, mostly by age, and were either talking about various things or enjoying the party. One of the older groups had gotten up to dance, and were trying to get the teenage girls to jump up as well. By dancing, I mean they were just waving their arms and twirling around to the music, provided by a (you guessed it) all-female band. On the other end of the pavilion, a small stage held three older women kneeling and watching the festivities. The two seated around the one in the middle were old and graying, but the one in the middle was a little younger, and while she did have wrinkles under her eyes she still had beautiful black hair and a motherly aura around her. The one on the left was portly and she looked like she was having too much of a good time. However, the one in the middle did not look happy at all. The one on the right, noticed this, said something to the woman in the middle, who responded back with a smile. The one on the left leaned over and shouted, "Cheer up, Achika, it's a party, bwah hah hah hah!" Leaning too far over and with a little too much alcohol in her, she fell right on her face. The congregation howled, and even the woman in the middle chuckled.

Kim had been hanging out by the entrance examining the scene when one of the dancers bumped into her. It was an older woman with many wrinkles, very little hair, and a tan burned into her from years of working as a farmer. She looked at Kim, titled her head, and smiled.

"I've never seen you around her before. Are you passing through?" Her voice was slow and methodical.

Kim smiled back. "Yes, I'm a traveler. I was actually told that there was a wedding going on and wanted to see it."

The old woman clapped her hands together. "What a sweet girl you are! You've come to the right place. My name is Hisa. Please, you must meet my granddaughter and her friends." She took Kim by the wrist and led her over to a table where three girls were sitting.

"Kei." The old woman spoke to the girl seated in the middle. The girl looked up at her grandmother. She had long blond hair that flowed down to her shoulders and a pretty face. Her friend on her left had brown hair that was teased into a strange style of knots and buns. She was also very pretty. On the other side of the granddaughter sat a very heavy-set girl with a face that was ugly as sin. She was in the process of stuffing herself with food.

The grandmother continued. "Kei, this is Miss..."

"Kim."

"Yes. Miss Kim. She has come to visit this wedding, and I'd like you to show her around while she's here. Can you do that for me, dearie?

"Yes, grand-mama."

"Thank you, Kei." The old woman walked off to rejoin the dancing.

"So, Kim was it? I'm Kei, this is Yoi..." She motioned to the brown-haired girl next to her.

"Yo," was the girl's reply. She was too busy reading a trashy romance novel to really care. Kim recognized the book, since she had secretly read some on her own even though her father had disapproved of the subject material.

"... and this is Mimpei." The large girl stopped eating for a moment only to talk with her mouth full.

"Nize to meeth you Kim."

"Nice to meet you all, too. So, who's all this for? I mean, who's getting married."

"Tomorrow Shina Gamouchi will be married to our lord, Prince _Fujimaro_." She said his name slowly and in a very breathy voice. Then, she and the other two looked up towards the ceiling and all three made a very large sigh.

Kim raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing he's a bit of a heartthrob."

The three girls started passing off comments.

"He's so dreamy. He sweeps you off your feet and takes you away like in a fairy tale."

"It's like he understands you, and can see inside your soul. He knows exactly what to say to make you melt in his arms."

Then Mimpei kicked in. While the other two girls spoke in a breathy voice, with plenty of sighs and giggles, they had kept some control over their emotions. Mimpei, well, did not.

"OH MY PRINCE!" The volume at which she shouted almost knocked Kim off her seat. "OH MY LOVE! WE COULD HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOREVER IN A FIELD OF HAPPINESS AND FLOWERS. I WOULD HAVE WAITED ON YOU EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY, IF ONLY YOU HAD RETURNED MY LOVE!" She began bawling, and Yoi had to drag her outside.

The party had hesitated while Mimpai was going through her episode, but now that the commotion had died down, the conversation had returned to normal.

"Who's that woman sitting in the middle of the stage?" Kim asked Kei.

"That's the mother of the bride."

"She doesn't look very happy."

"Well, it seems normal for a mother to be a little apprehensive, right? Besides, you know the saying, 'Not losing a daughter, but gaining a son?' I'm sure she'll be fine tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

_Ding, ding, ding!_ The larger woman on the stage was banging a couple chopsticks against a wine bottle.

"Now we're going to make a toast. To Achika, whose daughter will be united with our Prince tomorrow! Tomorrow, we'll all celebrate the wedding, especially when all our men come home!" The congregation cheered.

_Weird toast_, thought Kim, but she still raised a glass (of water!) and joined the toast.

By this time, Rufus popped out of a pocket in Kim's kimono to see what was all the racket. He climbed onto the table just in time to see Yoi and Mimpei come back. Yoi saw him first.

"Awww, he's so cute!"

Kei, Yoi, and Mimpei immediately began fawning over the naked mole rat. Rufus licked his paw and slicked his hand back over his head, even though it was obviously hairless.

Kim chuckled. "Well, Rufus, looks like you're quite the lady killer."

* * *

A few blocks away from the party, Kim and Rufus had retired to a restaurant to get some food and rest from their long day. Kim had left the party shortly after the toast because she had seen enough, and from the looks of it she had no business in the town.

Sitting up with her legs flat on the floor, Kim stretched out in between sipping her tea. Rufus munched eagerly at some noodles and beef. The restaurant was completely empty, as everyone in the else was at parties or busy preparing for the wedding. Even the restaurant owner had been surprised that she had come into the restaurant, but had served her and was now busy preparing a banquet in the backroom.

_That's going to be one heck of a wedding, if everyone in town is celebrating it_. _What a bust! I don't know what Wade was talking about. The bride's mother was definitely not a foreigner, and everyone seems happy about this wedding going on. Its pointless to stick around. I'll get a room for tonight, then take off tomorrow morning. Might even check out a spa tonight_. Kim smiled at the thought. She hadn't had a bath in a while, and even in the fifteenth century women prided their hygiene. She felt tired and irritated that Wade had sent her here with the wrong information, but glad that she was headed home. Still, it was strange that Wade had given her a cryptic challenge, and then it had been for nothing.

The cold wind crept into the restaurant, causing Kim to shiver. The weather threatened snow, either tonight or tomorrow. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to get through the mountains before they were blocked. Maybe she could hitch a ride with a caravan...

The door in the back of the restaurant opened and a figure came in, her face and upper body covered in a cloak which she pulled tight around her face. Kim watched as she quietly closed the door and approached her.

"Excuse me, I am very sorry to bother you, but I need your help." She removed the cloak from over her head, revealing dark raven hair and the same motherly wrinkled eyes Kim had seen earlier. It was the bride's mother.

"You're the mother of the bride."

"Yes. I saw you earlier today. I saw you had that sword with you; however, I wasn't able to speak to you before you left. You are a traveler, right? Are you a warrior?"

"Yes, I am. My name is Kim Possible. I am from the north, and I am a warrior. What do you need my help for?"

"My daughter is getting married tomorrow. If it were under any other circumstances, I would be overjoyed, but she is not marrying by choice. The Prince is forcing her to marry him. My son went to tell him to stop, but never returned. I don't want my daughter to marry the Prince, but he has threatened to harm my son if I do not comply. My daughter is too gentle and cares too much for her brother to refuse. Please, I beg of you, can you go to the Prince's mansion and find my son and daughter?" She had tears running down her eyes.

Kim was moved by the story, but still thought rationally. "What happened to all the men?"

"The Prince had them all rounded up and taken away. We don't dare disobey him out of fear of what he may do to them. You are the only one in this town who could possibly help me." The woman put her face in her hands and began crying heavily.

Kim was still confused, but the quirks of this little town started to make sense. She didn't know quite how she would do it, but she knew what she had to do. She took the woman's hand. Achika looked into Kim's eyes.

"I have one question. Are you from another country?"

The woman was surprised, but managed to answer. "I don't understand, but no, I am not from another country."

"What about your husband?"

"My late husband was born and raised in Japan."

Kim closed her eyes and sighed. She then reopened them and looked the women in the eyes.

"I will go to the mansion and find your son and daughter."

* * *

It wasn't very hard for Kim to find the lord's mansion, as its size and architecture was disproportionate to the rest of the town. The lord's mansion was three floors high, with almost an acre of grounds around it, surrounded on all sides by a wall as tall as the one around the village, and patrolled by male guards. The walls were brown and black, with spikes protruding out. In the shadows of the sun's last moments of the day, the mansion was very foreboding.

_Foreboding, yeah, but I definitely think he must be compensating for something._ She pulled the ringer.

A wooden slot slid open on one of the doors. Two eyes peeked through and spotted Kim. A throaty voice spoke.

Author's Note: For this next part, imagine the doorman is a snooty waiter at a French restaurant

"Yessssssssssssssssssssssss?"

"Is this Prince Fujimaro's mansion?"

"Yessssssssssssssssssssssss."

"And is Prince Fujimaro home?"

"Yessssssssssssssssssssssss!"

"Can I speak with him?"

"No." SLAM!

_Knock, knock, knock_.

"Yessssssssssssssssssssss?"

"I'm with the wedding."

"Anndddd whatttt is yourrrr position?"

"I'm a bridesmaid." Kim put on the fakest smile she could come up with.

"Oh! Why didn't you say so? Come right in!"

The doors opened and Kim walked inside. _That was easy enough._

The door man led her through the mansion. Once inside, Kim noticed a huge contrast with the mansion and the world outside. While the village had been a little better off then most, this mansion was a world apart. The entranceway was big, and the room was filled with workers, all male this time, busy putting the finishing touches on the decorations for the wedding. Kim wondered if these were the missing village-men, but noticed that they seemed too snooty and aristocratic to be part of the village. There were portraits on the wall, mostly of men dressed in rich clothes and adorned with rich jewels. The doorman led her through another doorway at the end, which opened into a massive ballroom, the likes of which she had never seen before.

"Ah _hem_!" While Kim was admiring the room, the doorman had stopped and was waiting for a response.

Kim turned to him. "Yes?"

"Your sword please."

"My sword?"

"I can't have you approaching my lord while carrying a weapon, now can I? It will be taken care of and it will be returned to you tomorrow once the wedding is finished."

Kim reluctantly handed the sword over. She then continued to examine the room.

The room was huge, with the floor covered with hardwood and a massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Kim would later learn that the style was French, and the chandelier had been imported from Europe. The doorman led her towards a woman heavily adorned in robes and carrying a fan, which she used to fan herself.

"My lord, another of the bridesmaids has arrived."

Upon turning around, Kim realized the figure she had thought was a woman, was actually a man. _This is Lord Fujimaro?!? _

The Prince had blond hair tied in a ponytail, a bishonen face, and dainty features. Every part of flesh on his head had been patted with a white powder, and he wore lipstick. He wore many robes, many with lace and frills, and even a coat patterned after leopard spots. The fan he carried portrayed the famous painting of a tsunami covering Mt. Fuji. He looked at Kim with doe-like eyes.

"Why, what a pretty visitor! Thank you for blessing my wedding with your presence." He took her hand and kissed it. His voice was a little higher than most men, and had a certain sweetness to it that most men lacked. Kim's jaw dropped in utter bewilderment.

"Is something wrong, Miss...?"

Kim managed to knock her jaw back into its hinges. "Kim Possible. Heh, heh, nothing's wrong, my lord."

"That's good. I can't have any of the bridesmaids sick tomorrow, especially not one as beautiful as you... oh my!" He turned his away and blushed. "Oh, but I'm getting married, I can't be such a flirt anymore!"

Kim was absolutely stunned. _This guy is a ruthless dictator?_ The doorman just sighed. He had obviously been dealing with this for a while.

Fujimaro turned away to look at the progress being done on the ballroom. "Now Kanbe, take Miss Possible up to the bride's room so that she can assist my blushing bride in preparing. I have much work that needs to be attended to."

Kanbe the doorman bowed. "Yes, my lord. Follow me, Miss Possible."

* * *

Turning the corner, Kim was surprised at what looked like a barricade of servants outside of one of the rooms. The butlers and maids had taken furniture and stacked them together into a large pile, which they hid behind.

Suddenly, one of the butlers rushed out of the room, under assault from flying furniture. A vase flew past, barely missing his head.

"AND STAY OUT! FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM NOT GOING TO DINE WITH THAT FREAK!"

The butler who had come out of the room cowered beneath the makeshift barrier. Another one, this one older, peeked over the barricade and tried to reason with whoever was inside.

"Please, madame, be reasonable. We think that you should at least interact with him once before your marriage."

"NO!"

Kim and the doorman walked up to the barrier. "What's the matter?"

"Who are you?"

"She is one of the bridesmaids."

The oldest butler wiped his brow. "Oh, thank goodness. She just won't cooperate. Maybe you can try." A bedpost flew past Kim's head, missing her by inches. "While you're at it, see if she prefers the red kimono or the red one."

Kim's gave them a crooked stare. "I'll see what I can do."

She entered the room and immediately dodged another bedpost. Staying low to the ground, she observed her opponent.

The bride-to-be was wearing undergarments, however, these were long underwear and so they covered most of her body. She wore slippers and even white gloves, and had a veil covering her head and face so that only her eyes peeked through. She was teenaged and had a sleek figure underneath her clothes.

The room had been completely trashed, despite its rich furnishings. The tapestries had been ripped, all the vases were now in pieces at the door on in the next room, and the bride was in the process of tearing apart the bed mantle (most Japanese slept on mats on the floor; however, considering the style of the rest of the house, an European bed wasn't surprising).

"Yah!" The bride charged at Kim swinging _another_ bedpost in her direction. Kim rolled away as the bedpost crashed into the floor. Despite her mother's suggestion that her daughter was a gentle soul, this girl definitely had some experience wielding a club. She swung again, this time knocking over a desk on the side of the wall. Kim rolled away again. She didn't want to pull her sword, but she really had no idea how to explain that she wasn't there to get her to try on clothes.

Waiting for the next attack, Kim quickly sidestepped as the bride charged with the bedpost and tried to thrust it into Kim's stomach. Kim stuck out her foot and caught the bride's leg in a trip while whacking her in the back with a clothes hanger she had picked up. The bride tumbled forward and landed hard.

The bride sat up, but she didn't make any more attempts to fight back. She gave Kim an hateful look. "So where'd they dig you up from?"

Kim held the clothes hanger on her shoulder. "For your information, I'm here to help you."

"Sure. So which dress did you bring for me today?"

"Your mother sent me to find you and your brother."

"Oh! Well that's different." Her attitude seemed to switch instantaneously. She stood up and brushed herself off.

"You're not mad anymore?"

"No, it's just an act."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

The butler called out from the hallway. "Is it safe to come in?"

"Go suck on an egg!" The bride tossed the final bedpost out into the hallway, sending the servants back into their holes.

The bride turned to Kim. "Alright, if you want to help me, I have a favor to ask you. Aoi, come out here." Another teenage girl came out from behind one of the curtains. She was very pretty, had black hair, and a slight frame. She looked shy. "This is my servant, Aoi. I want you to take her back to my mother."

Kim was surprised. "But my mother told me to find you. If anyone should get rescued here, it's you."

The bride got an attitude in her voice again. "Don't question me, just take her out of here and back to my mother. Okay? Can you do that for me?"

Kim looked at the bride-to-be and the teenage servant girl. "Fine."

"Good. You'll have to take her out the window. She can't be seen by the servants." She walked over to the bed and pulled out a long rope made out of bed sheets and torn clothes.

Kim was a little impressed. "For a simple town girl, you've got some skills."

"We've all got our little secrets." The bride tossed the rope out the window.

Kim walked to the window and took hold of the rope. "What should I do about you?"

"It doesn't matter. Just get this girl out of here. Beneath the guard house at the back entrance is the waterway. Go down there and the tunnel leads down to the village. That is your best way to get out." She turned to the other girl, who had not spoken yet. The bride put her arm on the girl's shoulder and wrapped a black cloak around her. "Don't worry, she'll take you to Achika." The girl gave a little nod and somewhat of a smile.

"Alright, let's go." Kim slid down the rope silently. Reaching the ground, she quietly pressed herself against the wall and looked around for any sign of life around. The other girl slid down as quietly as Kim, then did likewise. Outside the window was a large garden that spanned the entire side all the way to the wall. To the left at a distance away was the main entrance, and to the right was the massive grandstand area where the servants were still tirelessly setting up for the wedding.

The mansion compound was built so if someone was standing at the main entrance and looked towards the mansion, the buildings made an upside-down C. The main mansion was right at the entrance and spanned quite a distance. At the end of the mansion, a small hall-way came out the right side and went all the way to the wall. At the wall, the stables and servant areas ran parallel to the wall all the way to the back wall. At the back wall another hallway that went to the left attached to the guard house at the back entrance. Between the main mansion and the guard house was the grandstand area, which had enough space for military parades, or, in this case, a massive wedding.

The garden only went to where the mansion ended and the grandstand opened up. Kim didn't know the layout of the buildings and who would be walking around at this time, so the only way to get to the guardhouse was across the large open area. Night had fallen, so the lack of light would help them cross, but it was still a huge risk. Kim wished she had gone out over the roof, but looking around she had second thoughts as she noticed guards posted on the roof, most likely to protect against assassins. She realized that she wasn't in the rural areas anymore; things were different in the major cities.

Kim waited a few minutes in the brush, judging the guards' positions and watching their patrols. They weren't very tight or precise, and two of the guards on the roof were busy chatting about something, oblivious to the world around them. _This may be easier than I thought._

Suddenly, she heard a voice come out from the other side of some flora. "Ah, this water feels great." She recognized the voice and crawled forward.

Peeking through the bushes, she realized that in the middle of the garden the owners had built a hot springs. And the person currently using them was Lord Fujimaro. He was relaxing in the water. Another man, a little older and wearing casual armor, stood nearby. This man was holding a stack of papers and reading them off. They were the various reports and estimates from the day and for the wedding tomorrow.

Fujimaro took a sip of some wine. "How are the preparations going for my bride? I am still very upset that she would not dine with me or give me my bath."

The retainer looked nervous. "Oh, she is just nervous, that's all. Pre-wedding jitters. Think of it as a good-luck charm. She's saving herself for every waking day after your wedding."

"Hmph. That's all and well, but her behavior lately has been appalling. What if it carries over to tomorrow? If she committed some atrocious act in front of the village, I would just die! I can't have it." Fujimaro stood up. He was completely naked. "Kanbei!"

Kim was shocked, but then she noticed Aoi also peeking next to her. Kim put her hand over Aoi's eyes.

Kanbei came running. Fujimaro continued. "I have been told that there is a powerful hypnotist in Hokodate. Kanbei, seek him out and employ his services. Now, how comes the wedding cake and the bride's dress?"

Kanbei gave a little bow. "The cake is twice as large as your original specifications, and covered in delicious flavoring."

"Change that. I want it five times as large."

Kanbei's jaw dropped. "F-f-five times?!? By tomorrow? But we'll have to work all night with all hands!"

Fujimaro closed his eyes and looked thoughtful. "Do it anyway. I want my wedding to be talked about for the rest of my life. And the bride's dress?"

"It was made by the best kimono maker in all of Japan. It took forever to hunt him down, but we did it, and he made the kimono. It's exquisite."

Fujimaro's eyes opened in anticipation, and he balled his fists. "Oh, I just can't wait, I have to see it!" He grabbed a towel and ran off.

"No, my lord, its bad luck!" Kanbei shouted at him.

Fujimaro, clearly not paying any attention, ran inside. Kanbei and the guard stood there speechless.

Kanbei: "He's possessed."

Guard: "Completely nuts is more like it."

The two walked inside. As Kim watched, within minutes servants had run up to most of the guards and pulled them inside. Only a minimal amount of protection was left, and these guards were way too overtaxed to be able to stop Kim and Aoi from escaping.

Waiting at the edge of the gardens, Kim waited for the guard to pass by overhead and head for the main entrance. "_Go!_" Kim whispered it but Aoi understood perfectly.

Sprinting across the open ground, Kim was ahead of Aoi, who struggled to keep up. Kim dropped back and traded off running at Aoi's pace for her being able to rapidly scan the guards' positions. The one walking on top of the servant's quarters was too far away and too busy scanning the outside village to ever consider looking their way. The only one to worry about was the guard that walked along the wall they were running parallel to. Back in the garden, Kim had been counting the numbers of steps it took for the guard to turn around and head back towards the guard house. Since he made frequent stops to sightsee or talk to his fellow guards, Kim could only approximate how long it would take him to turn.

"_Stop!_" Kim put her arms and slid to a stop. Aoi followed suit. Kim grabbed Aoi's cloak and gave her one end. "_Hold your end at the same height I hold mine!"_ Aoi held up one end of the cloak and Kim the other so that the cloak was flat and parallel to the wall. Kim really didn't respect ninjitsu, but one of the few lessons she had picked up was hiding in plain sight. By blending in with the environment, one could appear to be an inanimate object and escape notice. Kim and Aoi used the cloak to blend into the shadows of the wall.

The guard slowly walked over top of them. He turned to the other one across the grandstand. Through a hole in the cloak, Kim watched the other guard looked over right at where Kim and Aoi were standing. Kim held her breath and stayed as still as she could. At any moment, they might have to run. Seconds passed. Neither guard moved.

The guard standing above them waved. The other one returned the wave and continued on his patrol. The guard above them moved back towards the front entrance.

Kim let out her breath. "Okay, get ready." Dropping the cloak, Kim and Aoi ran towards the guard house. Reaching the building, they hid on the side. The entrance into the grandstand area was unguarded, but these were the guard barracks, and Kim didn't know exactly where the waterway was. Three windows were on the side, two lit and one dark. Kim decided to go for the dark one.

Peeking in the dark window, Kim saw one guard sleeping on a mat. There were two other mats in the room, but they were folded up and empty. "Alright, Aoi, be very quiet." Kim helped the girl climb inside, then moved inside herself. Tiptoeing through the small room, Kim slid open the paper door and scanned for other guards. She heard footsteps above, but these were infrequent and in a pattern. If there was a waterway, it would most likely be below the guard house. She opened the door fully and stepped into the main hallway.

The guard house wasn't built for living, but rather for the defense of the mansion. There were other rooms, but Kim figured they were probably bunks. The main hall had two sides; one at where the wall ended, and the other had the door that lead out into the compound. At the wall were piles of weapons, while near the door was a fire pit and stove pot, and barrels of rice and other foodstuffs around. Searching around, Aoi found a mat that looked well-worn and used. She didn't say anything, but rather tugged on Kim's kimono.

Kim walked over to the rug and pushed it aside. Below the rug was a trapdoor. Kim smiled at Aoi. She pulled the trapdoor open and peered down.

The area under the guardhouse was dark and damp. There were stairs at the trapdoor, so Kim walked down, searching for some form of light that could mean a way out. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Kim took in her new surroundings. This area was a massive hole going deep in both directions. In the direction that went back under the mansion, there were lights and Kim heard voices. She and Aoi tip-toed over and hid behind a rock to see what was going on.

Underneath the grandstand area, Kim saw a line of cages that went back into the darkness, lit very few torches. Inside were a large number of men of every age. Kim saw three guards, but they definitely weren't in guard mode. One slept, another sat on the ground staring at his sword, and only one walked up and down the cages. The three looked tired and worn-out. Kim knew she could take them.

However, more voices came from beyond the cages. In the waning torchlight, Kim saw more guards approach the walking guard. Kim surmised that they were a patrol coming back. From where, Kim didn't know. _That must be the way out. _She counted twelve now. _No way I can take them all. Maybe we can slip around..._

CRUMBLE. Aoi had been leaning on the rocks to get a better look, and had knocked some over with a loud sound. The guards all quickly looked and spotted the two girls.

"RUN!" Kim grabbed Aoi and sprinted up the other end of the tunnel. Hopefully it would end and open up to the outside world.

The tunnel had an incline up, and Kim climbed through a snaking path to stay ahead of the guards. Kim looked back and saw that the guards were falling behind. Her guess that they were fatigued was right on. Coming up over a hill, however, Kim's hopes were quickly dashed.

In front of her, the tunnel was shoddily boarded up. The entire span of the tunnel was covered in wood, and it looked like it had been damaged and repaired many times. Kim noticed that water was coming through the wood, and several leaks were popping out. The wood was generously covered with _Warning, Caution- Contents Under Pressure, _and _Don't even think about it signs_. Kim knew now what the bride had said when she had called this the waterway. The tunnel went straight into the river near town. In any way, Kim and Aoi had hit a dead end.

Kim looked around desperately for some means to get past the guards. That's when she noticed a squat little man working in a corner. He was very pale and had little hair, suggesting that he had been down in the tunnels for some time. He was working with some sticks filled with black powder. Kim peered close to see what it was. The man, noticing Kim watching, immediately reeled back and screamed.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE?"

"What's that, old man?"

Rufus had popped out and was examining one of the sticks. "DON'T TOUCH THAT, ONE SPARK AND YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" The man grabbed the stick and threw some dirt at Kim.

"There they are!" The guards had finally caught up.

_Only one way out, and that's through these guys!_ Kim charged in, flipped over the first two guards, kicked another into two more, than knocked out one more, before the guards rallied and surrounded her with spears drawn.

* * *

"Not again."

_Well, world 2, Kim 0. _Once again, Kim was captured and inside a cage. The only good thing she could think of in all this was that her arms and legs weren't tied together. She had been stuck in a little cage in between two larger cages filled with men. Most of them were asleep or huddled together for warmth.

"Why are you here?" One of the men had approached her cage. Looking up, Kim met the face of a young man about age 20. His face was rough and worn, but he had some determination in his eyes. His hair was raven black. "I didn't think that lecher ever tossed away a girl."

Kim was intrigued. "You mean Prince Fujimaro?"

"Bastard!" The man punched the cavern wall. His hand got a cut on it, but he quickly tore off some of his already ragged cloak and wrapped it around his fist.

"Who are you? Why do you hate him so much?" Kim asked.

"My name is Kobayashi. I live in this village and farm in the fields. Ours was a normal life until the old lord went back to his family's home and placed his nephew here. He does not care about our needs, but rather his own well-being. His two obsessions are foreign goods and women, and he spends far too much time courting both and abandoning us. Then, about two months ago, he gets it in his mind that my sister is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and he can only marry her. My sister did not return his affections, and politely refused. But he would not listen, and rather pestered us and eventually threatened us. I went to him to tell him to stop, but he had me thrown down here. He then decides that no one else can get married until he does, and throws every man down here, not just because he wants to get married first but because he fears us overthrowing him." Kobayashi clenched his fists in rage. "I will never let that man marry my sister!"

"Are you Achika's son?"

Kobayashi whirled to look at her. "How did you know my mother's name?"

"She sent me here to find you and your sister."

"You're the one she sent? How long have you been here?"

"I just arrived today."

Kobayashi looked puzzled. "But I thought she sent into the mansion a week ago?"

"What?"

Kobayashi looked at the guards to make sure they were not listening. "I was told that my mother hired someone a week ago to rescue my sister. You are not that person?"

"No, I thought-"

"HEY!" One of the guards had noticed them talking. "You two, apart now! I here one more word out of either of you and I'll be introducing you to Mr. Spear here."

Kobayashi walked back into the group of men. Kim sat on the floor. _Might as well rest_. Kim hadn't slept in a long time, so she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The next day, the entire village was out for the wedding. A platform had been set up and covered by cloth to shield the wedding party from the elements, the cloudy sky still threatening snow. Everyone had worn their best clothes and brought the best food and gifts.

The prince stood on the platform, waiting with Kanbei and the top guard. Kim had a front row seat, as she had been tied up and stashed behind the platform in the tents where various props and artifacts necessary for the wedding were being held. Still, she could see everything that was going on, even if no one could see her.

Kim was in the dumps. This whole challenge had left her nothing but confused and angry. Nothing made sense and worse of all she had found both of Achika's children but hadn't been able to save either. This was the pits.

Suddenly, there was a rustling from her kimono. Rufus popped his head out of her clothes. Seeing Kim tied up, he tried to pull on the ropes and free her. He was unsuccessful. Rufus was sad, but suddenly he seemed to brighten up. He then ran out of the tent.

_Great, even the mole rat abandons me._

"Attention! Here comes the bride!"

_Oh no, its starting!_

Outside the tents, the guards had made a column around the bridal procession and led her towards the platform. The bride wore the most exquisite kimono, stenciled with many roses and other items of good fortune. As she had been last night, every inch of the bride was covered, even her face, which was still hid behind a veil. As she mounted the platform, she turned and faced the Prince.

The prince looked even girlier than before, if that was possible. He now wore eyeshadow and what appeared to be an evening gown, once again adorned with as many frills and accessories that could be crammed into the seams. "Are you finally ready to give me your answer, my dear? You can have this gift to women all to yourself."

"Yes, and my answer is no." The bride, despite being in front of all the people, still held an attitude. She held up one hand in front of her, with her index finger pointed up towards the sky and all the rest curled up. "First of all, princy, you need to get a grip on life. You can't have anything you want, especially not another living human being. Playing with someone's life is bad enough, but forcing them to take a place in your own immature and hedonistic life is even worse. My answer stays at no. N-O. No!"

The Prince lost his composure, but quickly regained it. "Well, lets see how you respond to this!" A curtain on the stage opened, revealing Kobayashi tied to a stump and a guard standing over him with sword drawn. "Marry me, or else!"

The bride looked at Kobayashi, then out into the crowd, and finally back at the lord. She hung her head in defeat. "I'll marry you."

The Prince roared in victory. "YES! Now, priest! Marry us at once!" He grabbed the bride's arm. "And if you even hesitate for one moment, my dear, your brother will suffer the consequences.

* * *

Down in the tunnel at the blocked wall, the pale man continued to fill sticks with black powder and was working on mathematical equations on a ratty piece of paper. He reached down to pick up a stick and noticed that one was gone. Looking around, he saw the stick headed towards the wooden wall, spilling black powder in a line along the ground. The stick was being carried by a little rodent.

"NO! COME BACK HERE!" He chased the little rodent, but the creature managed to wedge itself into the wood, taking the stick along with it. The man reached his hand inside and began feeling around for the stick. He didn't notice the rodent come out of another panel at his feet and head back towards the beginning of the black powder trail. The rodent grabbed two rocks and smacked them together over top of the black powder.

Smack! _Phwoosh!_" The sound caught the man's attention. He turned to see that the powder had been lit. "Oh no. Ohno!" He struggled to pull his arm out, but he was horrified to find that he was stuck. "Help me! Somebody help me!" He was surprised when the rodent jumped back up on his arm and wiggled into the wood.

* * *

"Say that you marry me!" The time for the vows had come. The bride was hesitating, and the groom was at the end of his patience. "Guard!" The guard lifted his sword high over his head. "Say it now!"

"I-I..."

Suddenly, the ground shook with a terrifying tremor. "Earthquake!" The people in the stands tried to hold their ground, but most were knocked off their feet.

"What's going on?" shouted the Prince.

As if on cue, a massive geyser of water blasted out of the guard house. Out of the water came the pale man and Rufus riding a wooden board on the wave of water. "Ahhhhhh!" screamed the man. "Cowabunga!" cried Rufus.

Down in the cages, the prisoners had been in the direct path of the water. "Grab hold!" they shouted. Since they were inside the cages, when the wave of water came, they weren't washed away. The guards were not so lucky. Most had been washed away, but one was pinned against the cage.

The prisoners feared they would drown, or trapped underground because the tunnel was in the midst of collapsing. However, fate was on their side. The old lord had fortified the tunnel underneath the parade grounds due to his fear that a large amount of people on top might fall through, meaning the tunnel would not collapse on the cages. However, he had not fortified the area under the mansion, which with the lords massive renovations was now five times as heavy as when it was first built. The tunnel in front of them collapsed, blocking the flow of water. The water died down, and the guard that was pinned felt relieved that he had survived. Then reality came crashing down on him as the prisoners grabbed him while he was pinned against the cage and took the keys to the cages.

* * *

"Kanbei! Guards! Do something!" The parade grounds had turned into absolute chaos. Water was gushing out of holes in the grounds, the women were rioting, and the bride had gone to save Kobayashi.

The bride, utilizing the insanity, charged for Kobayashi. She jumped through the air and drop-kicked the executioner. She released Kobayashi.

"Thank you." he said.

"No problem."

Suddenly, several guards charged them. Kobayashi moved into action, grabbed the bride and rolled back into the tents. They rolled into a still tied up Kim Possible.

"Who's this girl?" the bride asked.

"Who cares? Let's just get her out of here."

The bride reached down to untie Kim. Kim noticed that her veil had come out, revealing her head, and what Kim saw shocked her. The young woman dressed as a bride looked nothing like Kobayashi. Her skin was a dark brown, and her hair was even darker. She had small eyes and very beautiful lips, but she was definitely not Japanese. Kim wondered if this was the girl she had been sent to save, then pondered the irony that this girl was saving her. The girl removed Kim's gag.

"Who're you?" she asked.

"Kim. How about you?"

"Monique. What're you doing here?"

"Saving the bride and her brother."

"Oh, me too. Did you get Aoi out of here?"

"I don't know, they took her away."

"TO THE IMPOSTERS!" A loud voice boomed over the now somewhat silent compound. Monique, Kim, and Kobayashi ran back out onto the stage.

Prince Fujimaro was standing behind his guards, holding Achika hostage at the end of a knife. "Give me my bride or else she will pay!" His hair and makeup were now all messed up.

Monique gave him a look. "It takes a big man to use a woman as a hostage."

"Quiet!" The Prince thought for a moment. "You don't believe me, fine, she dies!"

"Stop!" Everyone turned to look at the voice. Kim recognized Aoi.

"Aoi!" Kim said.

Aoi faced the prince. "Stop all this violence at once, all of you! So no one else is harmed, I will marry him."

"Shina..." Achika looked at the girl with tears in her eyes.

"Hahaha, I win!" The Prince pushed Achika to the ground. A guard held her at the end of his blade. "If any of you even so much as moves, this woman dies!"

_Damn_, Kim thought,_ I wish I had my sword, I could stop this_!

The Prince marched forward in triumph. "Come my dear!"

Suddenly, the rumbling resumed. But this time, it was coming from the mansion. You see, the mansion wasn't always a mansion. It was once a simple house used by an old lord. Since it wasn't very heavy, being made mostly of paper, the lord hadn't bothered structuring the ground below it when the tunnel was made. But, through the massive additions made by the greedy Prince, the mansion was now too heavy, and the rush of water underneath had weakened the foundation to the point where there was only one possible outcome.

CRASH! The entire mansion crumbled into the tunnel below it. The few servants left inside ran out unharmed. But, the entire house was gone.

"My mansions!" The Prince looked like he was about to cry.

Using the distraction, Kim and Kobayashi barreled into the guards and pounded a path through them. Monique jumped through the gap and, in a coup de grace, smacked the guard holding Achika hostage. Kobayashi grabbed the spear and tossed it at the prince. He missed, but the spear caught his robes and pinned him to the ground.

"Hey!" The Prince couldn't move.

Aoi ran to join Kim and the rest.

"Guards, get them!" The guards prepared to charge.

Suddenly, a cry came up from behind them.

"The men!" Indeed, the men who had been held in the dungeon charged the now severely outnumbered guards. The guards quickly ran away. The women joined the men and began to cheer. Victorious, they left the smashed compound and went out into the village.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight." Kim stood outside the pagoda where it had all began. Standing with her was Monique, Kobayashi, Aoi, and Achika. "Aoi is actually Shina. Shina was being forced to marry Fujimaro, so Achika hired Monique to stop the wedding."

"But," Monique chimed in, "I got stuck on the inside and decided that I would take Aoi's place. That way, I could stall until I could find Kobayashi. You showing up only helped our plan."

"Thank you for all your help, Monique." Achika was overwhelmed with joy.

"Oh, it was nothing."

"And you too, Miss Kim."

"Ditto."

Achika, Shina, and Kobayashi left to go home.

Kim and Monique were the only ones left on the street.

"That was pretty cool how you impersonated her."

"That was pretty cool how you found Kobayashi."

"We're two of a kind." Kim and Monique smiled.

"Hey, I know!" Monique said. "Hold out your hand."

Kim did so. Monique took out a small needle and pricked her finger. She did the same with Kim's. "Now, press your finger against mind."

Kim and Monique touched fingers. "Now, we're sisters by blood. No matter what happens, we can always count on each other."

"That's pretty cool."

"So, where you headed, Kim the warrior girl?"

"Back home."

"Where's home?"

"North Hokkaido."

"That's a long way to go. Why don't you come with me to Hokodate and take a break before you head home?"

Kim thought for a moment. "Sure" she finally said.

"Great, let's go!" Monique started off.

Kim looked at her finger. The blood was still there, but a drop of water hit it. Kim looked up. It was beginning to snow. Kim ran to catch up with Monique.

"I feel kind of sorry for that Prince." said Kim.

"How could you feel sorry for him?" replied Monique.

"I just did. So, I left him a little gift."

* * *

The Prince sat on the shattered remains of his mansion, bawling his eyes.

"Why? I understand women. I understand what they want, what they need. Why did she reject me?"

"Why did who reject you?"

The Prince looked up to see his bride all dressed up in the beautiful dress Monique had been wearing earlier.

"My lord, I love you with all my heart and all my soul. I would do anything for you."

The Prince was speechless for a moment. Then he smiled. "Yes, that hypnotist must have come through! Oh, what a happy day! Priest, quickly find me a priest!"

Within the hour, they were married.

"I do." said the bride.

"I do." said the Prince.

"You may kiss the bride."

The Prince pulled back the veil – to reveal the smiling face of Mimpei.

"WHAH!"

Despite what you may think, this story has a happy ending. Though the prince was a lecher and a pig, he still had some honor. He never broke his wedding vows, and within a week of his wedding day, he left the village and went home. He never made another advance towards a woman. He is now completely whipped.

Chapter End

* * *

I have to start writing shorter chapters. This one took way too long, and I'm completely spent from writing it. However, it was fun to do and I have to say I liked the way it turned out. So, for a long chapter, I'm going to have a long author's notes.

If at any point you think I was implying that women are weaker or not as capable as men during this chapter, well, you're right (just kidding!). But then again, if I thought that women were weak, why would my main character be a butt-kicking female warrior, and I definitely wouldn't have had Monique get the last laugh over the prince.

Oh, and the only Kim Possible character that appeared in this chapter was Monique. All the other characters were characters I made up, so no, the prince was not Josh or Brick or whoever you think it is. When a character from the cartoon shows up, it will be obvious who they are, like Moto Ed and Barkin from Chapter 3 and Wade from Chapter 4. Please be patient, all your favorite characters will show up eventually (except Duff who I am completely baffled as to how I can stick him in).

Also, I don't know how weddings were held back in feudal Japan. I just went with customs of our society. Please don't bombard me with info on traditional weddings.

I need a book of Japanese names. It's hard to keep coming up with new ones. Remember the old woman Kim met when she first entered the pavilion? There's an inside joke there. Hisa means "long-lasting," a play on words of her age. ;) And please, don't write me to tell me how ashamed I should be for calling a character I created "ugly as sin." Everything worked out in the end and she got her man.

Also, if you're wondering why Kim keeps getting captured, its because she's still a novice warrior. She's good at taking on up to three bandits by herself, but against twelve guards and without her weapon, even a great samurai probably couldn't win. Her skills will improve, as they play a crucial role in coming conflicts.

And in response to several reviews, I'm going to answer some and give some other authors shameless plugs.

Blackheart Syaoran – Let me guess, you like Bonnie, huh? As you can see from this chapter, the foreigner wasn't her. But, she will appear before the end of this arch (about 4 more chapters) and will play a crucial role in setting up the story for the rest of the series. Think of these chapters as the OVA.

Thanks to continental-line for clearing up some samurai history, plus the names of various weapons, which I will undoubtedly use. And though there's no evidence of their use in feudal Japan, nunchuks are just plain cool. Remember Michelangelo of the TMNT?

Thanks also to captainkodak1, who actually wrote me an email, which is pretty cool.

Thanks to Kikyou-sama, Geor-sama for the encyclopedia on Kim Possible, Triaxx2, and Jezrianna. And you too, focker876.

Next Chapter: Kim's finally reached Hokodate, and what do you know, its time for the winter carnival! Every carnival they hold a contest to see who will be crowned the Queen of Winter. But when a master thief threatens to kidnap the winner, Kim enters the contest in order to unmask the thief. Pageantry and goofiness abound! Next time: "The Winter Carnival!"


	6. The Winter Carnival! Part 1

To the reader: though the first chapters have been somewhat realistic, realism is about to get thrown out the window. Run for cover.

Chapter 6: "The Winter Carnival" Part 1

"Okay, so what is the point of the masks again?" Monique whispered so as not to disturb the other theatre patrons.

"They're called Noh masks. They symbolize the position and emotions of the main characters. For example, the main character is wearing an aku mask, because he is an old and vain god."

Spending the night in Hokodate, Kim and Monique had decided to relax and enjoy the sights, including the local theatre. Since Kabuki would not be invented for another two centuries, the show of choice in Japan was the Noh theatre. Noh theatre was a combination of arts descending from court music, popular entertainment, and the Buddhist religion. In the Noh theatre, several plays were performed one after the other. They emphasized the Buddhist doctrine that human salvation is achieved through prayer and penance.

The show tonight was the story of the winter carnival in Hokodate. It was the opening ceremony of the carnival, so the theatre was packed. As the play began, the Shite, or the main players, consisted of the god of winter and his three daughters, frost, ice, and snow. They all wore masks. The god of winter wore an akujo-beshimi mask, which looked like the face of an old man with a bald head and long white beard. His daughters, frost and ice, wore Ja masks, which were ferocious looking masks with horns and large toothy grins. However, his third daughter, snow, wore a deigan mask, shaped like a pretty young woman, which implied that she was devoted to a loved one.

The Noh theatre was a simple one. The audience sat on boxes or stood in the back. The stage was a wooden platform with no scenery except for a single painted pine tree in the back, a nod to the origins of Noh where the actors performed on open-air stages at temples, often with pine trees behind them.

The plot of the play was that the old man became desirous of spring, a female character played by a male actor wearing a very seductive looking female mask (in this day and age, women were not allowed to perform). When she refused his advances, in anger he commanded his daughters to harm the Kyogen, which were the actors who played the common people. They did not wear masks. Frost and ice took pleasure in this and harmed the ordinary people, but snow took pity on the people and gently touched them. In anger, the old man struck down his daughter. However, his daughter still remained loyal to him and told him that she still loved him. The old man realized his mistake and called off his other daughters.

At this point, all the actors left except for a member of the Kyogen, a jester, the comic relief, who recapped the story.

"...so you see," he finished, "life and love may dance away from you, but be ever loyal to your family, for they will remain in your heart forever. That is why, every year, we celebrate the new snow by praising the winter gods and goddesses and asking them to hear our prayers for a gentle winter. "

All the actors came back. This time the main character was in a beautiful new costume with the mask of a rejuvenated old man on his head. The tempo increased and they all danced in celebration. The audience got up and clapped.

Kim and Monique got up too. Everyone clapped and the actors came forward to take a bow.

Then, the Joshu (mayor) of the city came forward carrying a large wooden box. He stepped up to the platform.

"Good evening, everyone!" He was a middle-aged man, but he looked energetic tonight. "I welcome you all to this year's Winter Carnival!" The congregation cheered.

"The carnival is founded in tradition and once again we will follow those traditions. Every year, we praise the god of winter, and we thank his daughter for reminding her father the value of family. In her example, every year we hold a contest, the 'Princess of Winter' contest. In this contest, we choose who is the most like Princess Snow of all the girls in all of Hokodate during the festival. Many of you have come from far and wide to compete, so I hope for an amazing contest. For the winner, besides nation-wide recognition, you will be allowed to wear this."

He opened the box and everyone leaned forward to see.

"Behold, the heart of the Princess of Winter!"

Inside the box was a beautiful white and blue crystal necklace. At the center was a large diamond, perfectly cut.

While everyone was focused on the necklace, there was a sudden flurry of movement behind the actors. Without warning, the jester flipped over the actors and landed in front of the mayor, rolling forward and taking off down the aisle. The mayor looked down and realized that the box was empty.

"Someone stop him!" The jester was already half-way down the aisle and off at full speed long before anyone could react. However, a foot suddenly stuck out right in front of the thief's path, catching him in momentum and sending him flying forward.

Crashing to the ground, the thief slid a few yards before coming to a stop. Looking down, his hands were empty.

"Looking for this?" The jester looked up to see a red-headed teenage girl holding the necklace. "Hey, Monique, I just these seats weren't so bad after all." she said to her friend, who was dressed in some strange tribal clothes.

By this time, the local constables had almost surrounded the thief. They pointed their spears straight at him. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, he stood up and put his hands in the air.

Suddenly, his fingers flew open, revealing several small balls. In a flash of motion, he threw them into the ground. There were two bright blinding flashes followed by lots of colorful smoke, which quickly filled the theatre and sent the audience into a panic.

"Calm down, its just smoke!" shouted one of the constables, who coughed a little bit but otherwise continued to search for the thief.

"Captain Tango!" The captain looked behind him to see the mayor. "Do you have the necklace?"

"We're looking. I don't know where that stupid thief went, but we'll find him, and when we do, we'll get that necklace."

"Don't bother." A voice came through the smoke.

Captain Tango and the mayor looked to see a very dark-skinned teenage girl wearing strange foreign cloths standing next to them. She was holding the necklace.

"Here ya go." She said, handing it to the mayor.

"Oh, thank you. Weren't you with that girl who tripped the thief? Where is she?"

"She took off after the thief. Nice girl, but she a little too enthusiastic if you ask me."

Suddenly, Captain Tango noticed that there were bits of paper mixed in with the smoke, and they all carried a message.

"Mr. Mayor." He handed the paper to the mayor. "Message from our thief."

The mayor looked at the writing.

_I will steal the heart of the Winter Princess.

* * *

_

Kim raced through the night after the thief, bounding from rooftop to rooftop. The cold air whipped through her hair and stung her face, but she never felt more alive.

Though the thief was fast, she was faster. _Only three more bounds and I've got him. One, two..._

"Adrenaline Rush!" Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere. Kim looked to her right to see a figure flying through the air _wielding a giant hammer!_

The figure slashed at the thief, but missed, instead sending timber flying and putting a massive dent in the roof of the poor house they were on top of. The force of the blow knocked both Kim and the thief off their feet.

Sitting up, Kim looked at this new attacker. It was a woman with blond hair, tan skin, tall, in her 20s, and wearing a very garish outfit. She had on a black sleeveless top with a small silver necklace around her neck that ended with a crescent moon medallion. Her red pants were very baggy and looked very soft, were tied off around her waste with a large brown belt, and opened at slits very close to the ground which revealed brown boots underneath. Tied tightly down her forearms was black lace that wrapped around her index and middle finger, then around her forearm, up to just below the elbow where they were tied off. She had a tattoo on the back of her neck that was in a language Kim couldn't understand. Her hammer was massive. The grip looked like it had been made from the trunk of a small tree, and the business end was three times as big as the woman's head. The whole hammer was wrapped with metal links, and the ends of the head were covered in iron.

The woman paid no attention to Kim, but rather focused solely on the thief.

"Hah! Got you now! Your unconditional surrender to me will be as follows..."

"Hey!" Kim yelled, "just what in the heck do you think you're doing?"

The woman turned and gave Kim a strange look. "Run along, little girl, before you get hurt!"

"What?!?" Kim was furious.

The woman looked back at the thief. "You should consider yourself honored! You're being captured by the famous Shugyosha, Adrena Lin, master of the Dokoutsui!"

"Oh, get over yourself!" Kim charged by Adrena and raced straight for the thief.

He pulled out six throwing knives and tossed them like a skilled knife hurler.

Kim stopped, pulled out her sword, and swung it in a circle, knocking down all the knives. However, that single moment allowed the thief to turn tail and run.

Now it was Adrena who blew past Kim. "Now look what you've done!" She yelled.

"What I've done?!" Kim raced to catch up, taking off across the rooftops again.

"Don't interfere with my work, little girl!"

"You're the one who's interfering! It was perfectly fine until you showed!"

Crossing a gap between two houses, the thief used his momentum to flip into the air. For a split-second, as he hung upside-down in the air, he tossed out three juggling balls, all of which exploded in mid-air, releasing smoke. Adrena tried to judge the gap, but she lost her balance and slid to a stop at the end of the house.

Kim judged the jump perfectly, and she landed gracefully on the next one at such a speed that she would have the thief in seconds. She pulled on her left eyelid and stuck out her tongue.

"Slow-poke!"

"Oh no you don't!" Adrena jumped towards the house. She didn't quite make the gap, but she didn't need to.

"Adrenaline Smash!" Using her massive hammer, she crushed one end of the house, sending a shockwave through the house and sending the other side of the house up in the air like a giant see-saw. Kim and the thief, being on the extreme end, got tossed up in the air and back towards Adrena.

"Alright! Come to Momma!" _Rumble._ "Huh?!"

Despite the fact that Sir Issac Newton would not be born for another century or so, people all around the world generally accepted the fact that what goes up must come down. So, as the other side of the house came down, like a see-saw the side Adrena had smashed went up into the air, catching Kim and the thief. They slid down the soft snow and tumbled into the street.

The thief got up first and realized that he was being watched. Actually, there wasn't anyway for him to hide, considering that he had just rolled into the _path of a winter parade_, with hundreds of onlookers lining the streets. The commotion of the smashed house made him stick out like a sore thumb.

Kim, rubbing her bottom from the landing, was surprised by the sudden change in surroundings. They had been running through alleyways and across roofs. Now, they had rolled right into the middle of a crowded street, with hundreds of people dressed up and performing on the street, with hundreds more watching the festivities. All were amazed at the house being smashed into the air, but they were even more surprised at the two who had rolled off it.

Kim glanced around quickly, searching for the thief. He was trying to pretend that their antics were all part of the show, and attempted to blend in with the crowd.

"Stop him!" Kim yelled.

The thief tried to take off running, but, in his terror, he ran into a dancer and then crashed through a sake salesman on the side of the road. He pushed through the crowd and was about to escape, when suddenly a wooden staff shot out from the crowd and caught him right in the leg. The thief went barreling forward, crashing head over heels, finally coming to a stop by rolling into a fruit vendor. Fruits cracked open and broke over his head, causing sticky juice to roll down his mask.

"You cretin! You almost made me break a nail!" The voice was snobbish and rude. The thief looked up.

Standing overtop of him, and carrying a wicked nagitaka, was a brown haired vixen with tan skin. She wore a kimono, but her outfit was designed for fighting. She wore a white vest with red stencils woven in. An elaborate obi wrapped around her waist, and her skirt bottom went all the way to the ground, stopping just over her feet. She wore samurai gauntlets and a leather headband, with the crest of the Yamana emblazoned in the middle.

She shoved the blade of her nagitaka in the thief's face. "Well, what do we have here?"

Kim strolled up, obviously seeing the situation was taken care of.

"Thank you," Kim said to the other girl, "for stopping him, Ms.?"

"Bonischi Yamana. Oh, but everybody calls me Bonnie!" She smiled a cute little smile.

Kim smiled back. "Thanks, Bonnie. My name's Kim Possible."

"Nice to meet you, Kim." They were both smiling almost disgustingly cute.

"Well, Bonnie, since you've dealt with this thief, I'll just take him off your hands."

"Oh, sorry Kim. You see, its my sworn duty to protect the people and stop criminals, especially thieves." She was still smiling.

Kim was still smiling too, but it had become more of a nervous smile. "What a coincidence! That's my sworn duty as well. But, since I was chasing him first, it only stands to reason that I should take him in."

"Yes... but I'm the one who finally stopped him."

"And I'm the one who started to chase him across the rooftops."

"And I'm the one who finished the chase." They were still smiling, but the tension between the two was now at an extremely delicate pitch.

"I'm going to take him away now."

"No, it is I who will be taking him away."

"I don't think so."

"I do think so."

"Why don't you just let me take care of my business?"

"Because this is my business as well."

They had finally dropped the smiles and were now completely serious.

"Look, Bonnie, I don't know what your problem is, but I'm taking this thief in, whether you like it or not."

"I don't know if you noticed, _Kim_, but I'm a Yamana," she pointed to her headband, "and I have the law on my side in this matter. I'm taking him in."

"You are impossible! I bet you're a daddy's girl, living off your papa's money!"

"Its better than being a no-name wanna-be warrior! You think you're so hot, carrying around that sword, acting like you're some noble ronin? You even know how to use that thing?"

"I had to earn my sword by being the best! You probably just whined to daddy for that weapon!"

"I'll have you know that no one can go toe-to-toe with me, especially not some country bumpkin!"

"You want to see how tough how I am?"

"Let's go!"

They were in each other's faces, growling like two pit bulls ready for action.

"Yo girls!"

"WHAT?!?" Kim and Bonnie turned towards the voice. It was Adrena Lin. She had finally found a way around the rubble. Right now, she was pointing down the road.

"Your prey's getting away, ladies."

Kim did a double-take. Next to her, the fruit vendor was still smashed, but the thief was gone. He was now half-way down the road, taking off at full speed.

Bonnie and Kim looked at each other, then took off after the thief. Adrena Lin quickly caught up with them and all three were running neck and neck.

"Give up!"

"Make me!"

"Hey, I'm here too!"

"The thief's mine!"

"Not if I get there first!"

"How about whoever stops him next gets to take him in?"

"DEAL!"

Ahead of them, another parade was going on, this one with floats and even a long Chinese dragon. Bonnie whipped her nagitaka back and threw it forward like a javelin. It embedded itself on the side of one of the floats, right in front of the dragon. The leader of the dragon costume, surprised by the sudden strike, stopped dead in his tracks, causing the other members of the costume to crash into him, lose their way, and spill out directly in the way of a float.

The workers of the float, seeing the sudden rush of people in front of them, turned around and pushed against the float to slow it down. Stopping suddenly, there was no time for the floats behind them to stop as well, and with sickening crunches the parade came to a sudden halt as twenty floats, each filled with and surrounded by hundreds of people, created the world's first highway pile-up. Dancers, street performers, and decorations were strewn everywhere, and the crowd quickly panicked and ran to avoid the runaway floats. It was utter chaos.

The thief bounded up to the first float, flipped into the air, pushed off a paper-mache samurai, and landed on the other side.

Bonnie ran up, grabbed her nagitaka, still embedded, and used it to pole-vault over the float, pulling her precious spear out in mid-air. She landed on the other side and continued forward. Kim leapt over the float the same way the thief did, while Adrena just went right through it with her hammer.

Now they were running down another alley-way. This one was empty and gave Kim more breathing room. Bonnie was in front of her, while Adrena trailed behind. They were all sprinting, but after two days of fighting and traveling Kim knew she couldn't hold this pace. Up ahead, she spotted a large tree. She readied her sword.

An old man stood next to the large tree with several small children.

"Now, children, according to Shinto, there are spirits in every living thing, including the plants. In this tree alone, there are hundreds of spirits living together in harmony. We place these bands around the tree to bring harmony to the spirits inside. He touched the bands.

"Now, I don't want you touching these bands. I mean, I probably shouldn't have touched them, since its considered bad luck..."

_Shing!_ A swipe of wind cut through the air. The old man looked at the tree. Though it hadn't moved, a large cut had been sliced straight through it.

"Huh?!?" The old man was speechless.

Suddenly, a young red hair girl flew through the air and with a mighty kick knocked the tree on its side. She jumped on top and began rolling it down the street.

"SORRY!" She yelled back to them.

The old man stood with his mouth wide open. One of the young boys tugged at his kimono.

"You were right grand-pa."

"Much better!" Log-rolling down the street, Kim was now making great time with less effort. She quickly caught up to Bonnie.

"Banzai!" Kim cried out, causing Bonnie to look behind her in shock.

"Oh crud!" Bonnie eyes were wide open and her mouth clenched as she turned back forward and sprinted even faster.

The log caught up to her and was nicking at her kimono. In one last ditch move, she lifted her nagitaka and struck the butt of the pole into the ground, throwing herself at a nearby house. She kicked off the house and into the air, landing on top of the log running.

"Kim, stop this crazy thing!"

"Hold on!"

In seconds, they were on the thief, and now the thief was the one about to get rolled over. He looked around for an escape, but the alleyway had no side entrances, so he was stuck.

"We got you now!"

"Old lady dead ahead!"

Kim looked up from the thief to see that several blocks away the alley way opened up into a street running perpendicular to the alley. She also saw that closing fast was indeed an old lady with a cane crossing the road.

Kim and Bonnie did a double-take. Then they looked at each other.

"Run the other way!"

"You don't have to tell me!"

They turned and ran against the rolling log, but by this time the log was going so fast there was no way to stop in time, only enough to slow it down.

"Get out of the way!"

The old lady looked down the street to see a massive rolling log of doom barreling towards her.

"Oh dear."

She started walking faster, but considering that she was extremely old and walking with a cane, her walk was a little more than a crawl.

"We can't stop in time!"

Suddenly, the thief sprung forward with a huge bound. He rolled forward, ending up right behind the old woman. He grabbed her and jumped as close to the corner as he could both of them. Standing up as straight as he could, the log rolled by, missing the thief and the old lady by centimeters.

The log flew across the street, crashing into a fishing market, sending wood and fish everywhere. Tuna and bass landed on the road and on the heads of various people milling about the market when the log crashed into it. The market itself had been pile-drived out of existence, but at least it had stopped the log.

The thief watched the now-wrecked fish market settle in the dust.

"Oh dear." The old lady was merely stunned. She took one look at her rescuer, then hurried off on her way. The thief looked at the old woman running away and scratched his head. Suddenly, he tensed up and flipped away just as a giant hammer came crashing down on the spot he was standing seconds ago. He rolled into the center of the road and assumed a fighting stance.

Despite having to carry around that massive hammer, Adrena Lin had still made great time in catching up with the thief. However, she was breathing heavily.

"_Huff_... thought you escaped me, huh! _Puff_! I don't think so! Don't even try to run!"

The thief crooked his head. Since he was wearing a mask, his facial features couldn't be seen, but he definitely was giving her a confused look. He held up his right hand, clutched into a fist except for his index finger, nodded his head, then bolted off down the street.

"What did I just say?!?

Adrena took off after him, but the gap between them was growing larger and Adrena was breathing harder.

Running footsteps grew louder behind Adrena, and before she knew it, two figures raced past her at top speed.

"Hey!"

Adrena was amazed that Kim and Bonnie still had enough energy to blow by her, and even more that they had somehow survived the crash at the fish market.

Bonnie turned around and stuck out her tongue. "You didn't think we were done for, did you?"

"See you later, slowpoke!" Kim added.

"That's it!" Adrena slid to a stop, then placed her hammer directly in front of her perpendicular to her body, so that she and the hammer made a make-shift cross.

"Adrenaline focus!" Her body tensed up, and a white aura seemed to form around her.

Kim's eyes shot wide open. "She has chi powers?!?"

Bonnie looked at Kim with a confused face. "What the heck are chi powers?"

Adrena raised her hammer over her head. "Seismic strike!" She smashed the hammer into the ground, causing the road to seemingly split around her. Then, a wave of power raced forward down the road, shaking the earth all around it. Every house down the road shuddered and some even collapsed as the seismic wave rolled by, picking up more speed with each block it smashed. The sound was deafening, and quickly caught the attention of by-standers down the road, who, upon seeing the energy barreling towards them, ran for cover.

Kim and Bonnie in fear ran even faster, gasping with every breath. They had almost caught up to the thief who was finally starting to tire after the long ordeal.

Up ahead the road curved to the right. They were running parallel to the water now, and any other direction except the turn right lead into the ocean. At the curve, feudal fishing factories lined the water.

All three approached the curve at full speed when suddenly ten armed men came around the corner straight at them. Leading them was Captain Tango.

Seeing the thief running straight at him, Tango lowered his spear and prepared to fight.

"There he is men! Get him!" The men charged forward.

The thief, moving with insane speed, closed in on one of the fish factories on the left and, with a burst of speed, _ran up the side of the wall_! He charged along the wall as the Captain's men threw their spears at him to no avail. Coming to the end of the road, the thief kicked off the wall and flew out over the water, diving in head first. He immediately began swimming for a nearby pier.

"We've got him now! Men, arm your bows!"

"Move!" a voice from behind Captain Tango startled him. He turned around to see the girl who had stopped the thief earlier and another girl running towards him.

"Stop!" He pointed his spear at them and they immediately complied.

"Explain yourselves, right now!" _Rumble!_ Behind them, Captain Tango finally saw the incoming shockwave. He looked at Kim and Bonnie.

"You!"

"Kim!"

"Bonnie!"

"Crud!"

"Men! Run!"

The shockwave crashed into the group with a massive sound that rivaled thunder. All the guards, Kim, and Bonnie, went flying into the air, with some landing in the water. Kim and Bonnie were unharmed, but were knocked silly.

"Whoops! Hehe, sorry?" Adrena scratched her head with a goofy smile.

The thief merely shook his head and swam away.

* * *

"Destruction of property, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, fighting in the street, ten counts of mayhem, and what can only be described as complete and utter chaos and anarchy, all in the span of a half-hour! Not to mention, the thief got away! I want an explanation, and I want one now!"

Kim, Bonnie, and Adrena were right now being held at the constables' headquarters, getting chewed out by an extremely angry Captain Tango. All of them had bandages covering up various nicks and scrapes from the insanity that had capped the night. None of them looked directly at the Captain, but rather Kim looked to her right, Bonnie twiddled a loose string on her kimono, and Adrena had her arms behind her head and was looking up at the ceiling.

Captain Tango was a middle-aged man, but he looked like the kind of constable that had seen everything his job could throw at him. He wasn't a samurai, but since he had worked directly for the Japanese government for years, rising up from the peasant ranks to head constable of the northern island, he considered himself to be somewhat on par with the warrior class. His hair was long but didn't fall below his neck, and he had a beard that covered most of his face. His hair was jet black and scraggly. He had several scars, the most prominent one down his nose and just barely missing his eye. The lack of answers caused the Captain to seethe even more.

"If I had my way, I would throw you all in jail to hang from your ankles until your legs fell off!" He stopped for a moment to let the point settle in.

Then he sighed and looked down at a piece of parchment he had in front of him.

"But, that decision isn't up to me." He grumbled out these words. "Ms. Possible, for your help in stopping the thief, the mayor has asked me to be lenient on you. He has asked me to extend the same courtesy to you, Ms. Lin, as your employer has paid reparations for the damage you caused. Likewise for your family, Ms. Yamana. Therefore, since all three of you have been pardoned, I can do nothing except let you all go free. You can pick up your equipment from the quartermaster outside. Go out and enjoy the festival, but don't let me catch any of you doing something like this again, or I'll make sure you regret it!"

* * *

Later that evening, Kim had finally gotten a chance to relax after the insanity of the early evening. After leaving the constables' headquarters, she had met up with Monique and they had found an inn to stay the night. This inn boasted a small but well-kept hot springs, which Kim was now making full use of.

"Ahh, this is much better." She washed herself with a wash towel, then settled back to enjoy the steaming hot water. Since it was late at night, there were no other bathers in the women's bath, so Kim had room to lay out and relax.

:Author's Note: in Japan, taking baths with others is not considered sexual, except if you are taking a bath with a lover. There are usually public baths for separate genders, and then sometimes there are mixed baths, but the atmosphere is that of a locker room, not an intimate one.;)

"Feeling better?" Kim looked over to see Monique walking in, wearing her robe and carrying towels.

"Yeah. I'm still trying to get over the fact that we lost the thief, but other than that I'm fine. I was doing fine until those two girls got in my way. Ugh!" She sank down lower so the water was up to her nose.

"Speaking of those two, you three are the talk of the town." She waved a couple of pieces of parchment. "The evening news was out too early, but the tabloids are already having a field day with your story."

Kim took the parchment and began to read it.

_Tonight a thief posing as one of the actors for the opening play attempted to steal the precious Winter Princess' Heart from the mayor. He was stopped thanks to the efforts of several concerned citizens. After dropping the diamond, he took off into the night and was chased down by three warriors and our head constable, Captain Tango. However, the thief somehow managed to escape, despite their best efforts. We at the Hokkodate Herald have secured exclusive interviews with two of the brave women who fought the thief._

_Bonischi Yamana, youngest daughter of the Yamana's has come to Hokodate to compete in the Winter Princess contest, a staple competition for daughters of the Yamana. When asked about these latest happenings, she had this to say about the thief's threat to come back and finish what he started._

_BY: I'm here for the contest, but with this new threat, it's my sworn duty to protect the necklace. Therefore, I'll win the contest and keep the necklace safe on my own neck!"_

_The other girl we had the privilege of talking to was the famous foreign adventurer and warrior, Adrena Lin. After Ms. Yamana's announcement, Ms. Lin had this to say._

_AL: I'd like to announce that, with the backing of my employer, Ms. Kleeg, I will also be entering the contest with the intention of winning and also protecting the necklace at the same time._

_Ms. Elsa Kleeg, the latest fashion designer to hit Edo, is backing Ms. Lin. Ms. Kleeg had this to say._

_EK: We are truly excited at this latest development, as it will give Adrena the chance to showcase my fabulous new wardrobe all the way from France, as well as protect your valuable necklace. Did I mention that my fashions are the all the rage in Europe?_

_Captain Tango was visibly furious, but the mayor has decreed that the two girls can compete and is actually welcoming the competition._

_There was a third girl involved with the chase earlier; however, we were not able to speak with her before she left. When asked about the third girl and whether she would participate in the contest, Ms. Yamana had this to say._

_BY: That girl wasn't anyone important. There's no way she could ever compete with the likes of me. I'm willing to bet that she will never appear again, much less embarrass herself in the contest._

_So there you have it. Despite the outcome, we assure the readers that this year's contest should be very entertaining, to say the least. Make sure not to miss it!_

The article continued on with the full interviews of the girls, the mayor, and the Captain, but Kim was too furious to continue reading.

"Ergh, that witch!" She smacked the water, sending a small wave across the bath.

Monique had climbed into the water and was relaxing quietly while watching Kim's temper tantrum. "So what are we going to do? You want to enter the contest? I think that would be pretty fun."

Kim sighed and stroked her hair back behind her head.

"No. You've ever heard of Sun Tzu?

"Let me think. Um, no. No idea."

"Famous Chinese tactician. He wrote about tactics in battle. One of his main points was that striking first and getting the jump on the enemy allows one to have the upper hand and defeat the enemy without a battle. Bonnie and Adrena are going to try and stop the thief at the contest. However, this allows the thief the advantage, since he knows who he is up against. We'll go one further and stop the thief before he has a chance."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Simple." Kim stood up and climbed out of the bath, grabbing a dry towel. "Instead of letting the thief come to us, we'll go straight for him. And I know just the guy to help us."

* * *

In the busy commercial district of Hokodate, several markets vied for the wares of patrons. In the middle of all these stores, a rather large dojo took precedence. It was a combination school/meeting area for students and teachers of Kendo (Way of the Sword). However, hidden inside this school was a business. This business had to stay hidden as its main source of profit was shunned by normal society. This was the business of hunting humans. Behind this school lay the Hokodate branch of Barkin's Bounties.

"Ippon!" The teacher cried victory as one of his students brought down another with a high blow. Stopping their pitched fight, the two moved apart, then bowed in honor to each other, and then to their sensei. The sensei returned the bow and the students went off to their respective places.

"Excellent lesson today. Konichi, you telegraph your jabs. Mimase, you need to be quicker on the defense. Other than that, very good you two. Your lessons are done for today. You all may go home."

The students were not the children of samurai, but rather a mix of the progeny of nobles and some wealthy merchants. It was not uncommon for ronin to start schools to teach their skills to others. Though looked down upon by true samurai, it was accepted as an industry, and this time of civil war the ability to fight was in high demand.

After the students had all left, the sensei began walking around making sure everything had been cleaned up. He was older and graying, but still could swing a mean sword.

The front door opened and two women stepped inside.

The old man greeted them. "Welcome to the Hokodate school of Kendo. How can I help you?"

Behind a few closed doors, a small office was nestled. It had several windows giving light and air to the otherwise cramped room, but it had been strategically placed so as to avoid anyone snooping around, whether from the inside or out. The room was simple; a small bed was laid out and neatly made in one corner. The rest of the room was covered with tons of papers and files. Pinned against the walls were hundreds of pictures of men and women, along with articles, records, last known whereabouts, etc. In the center of it all was none other than Mamoichi Barkin. He wore a loose and comfortable robe wrapped with an obi as opposed to his armor, which was placed neatly next to his bed. His sword sat beside him, ready at a moment's notice to be drawn out. It was a Spartan environment, but, then again, Barkin hadn't gotten where he was today by being comfortable.

He was working on some new files when a knock came at his door.

"Who is it?" He grasped the hilt of his sword.

"Barkin-san, you have some visitors. Pretty ones, too!"

_Women? _He hadn't really met anybody in the past several months, and geishas weren't his thing. A second thought came to mind. _How did they know I'm here?_

"Did they say their names?"

"Kim Possible and Monique... um... she had a very strange last name, definitely foreign."

"I'll meet them in the briefing room."

"Well, well, Kim Possible. What's brings you here, or better yet, how the heck did you know I would be here?" Barkin had changed into more appropriate clothing and was now wearing a foot soldier's garb.

Kim held up the parchment from the bath. "I ran into a Yamana last night, and I figured you'd be in town watching over her, since you seem to be the lapdog of the Yamanas." Kim cracked a smile.

Barkin returned it. "Professional humor. Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Kim Possible. That's a lesson you should learn. So what brings you here?"

"The Heart of the Winter Princess. Last night I stopped a thief from stealing it. However, he's promised to try again."

"So you're the third girl? I figured as much? Tea?" Barkin held up a pot.

"Please and thank you. Anyway, instead of entering the contest and defending it on the inside, Monique and I are going to find the thief before the contest and catch him off-guard. That's where you come in. I was wondering if you have any information about this thief?"

Barkin sipped his tea. "I might have some, but it's going to cost you."

Kim was taken aback by the comment. She almost didn't have enough money to get home, much less pay for a bounty hunter's information. She looked into her money purse, jingled around the few yen she had left, then gave Barkin a nervous smile.

"Oh, but I don't have much I can give you..."

Barkin gave her a hard stare. Then he smiled. "I'll start a tab."

Kim gave a sigh of relief.

Barkin pulled out a projector; however, this one was operated by candle, not electricity. The briefing room had no windows, so all he had to do was close the door in order to make the room pitch black except for the projector.

"Alright, listen up. My sources indicate that the gang most likely responsible for the robbery last night and the possible follow-up are the DFL gang."

"DFL?"

"Delinquents For Life. They're a small gang, only started operating inside Hokodate recently. The three members are Jr., Vinnie, and Big Mike. I've had history with Junior and Big Mike, so I've kept a close eye on them ever since they decided to move up from vandalism to the big leagues. Their most recent arrival is Vinnie, foreigner, came over with the Dutch Trading Company. I believe you were a part of that expedition, Miss Monique?"

Monique nodded. "Vinnie was a part of the crew, but he had a bad streak a mile long. Got thrown into the brig for fighting, then escaped when we came ashore. He's really good at boxing."

"That would make sense since Junior and Big Mike pride themselves on not using weapons. Junior uses a mix of Karate and kickboxing, and though he's sloppy he uses both extremely well. Big Mike is a sumo wrestler. Be careful, they say he can crush your head in his fist."

"Okay, we know who we're after. How do we find these guys?

"Their base of operations is inside a slum in the nearby _eba_ (undesirables) village. I can give you a map to get you there, but I wouldn't dare enter without a guide. Anybody with anything remotely desirable doesn't enter there, especially after dark. You'll need someone who knows the area and how to get in and out fast, especially when being chased. I can recommend someone to you."

"Would you?"

"I've got the perfect guy. Three days ago, the thieves' prison got a recent influx of inmates. One of them just happens to know the information you seek."

Kim was a little annoyed. "Are you suggesting that I break him out of prison?"

"Of course not. Just tell the jailors that I sent you and they'll give him into your custody. They're so overworked, and the thieves are all set to be executed, so what's one thief to them?"

"I'm not saving a thief from a fate that he deserves, just to go hunting for some more."

Barkin gave Kim a cold stare. "You want to go in alone, fine, but don't expect to ever come back. Are we clear?"

"Yes."

"Good. Don't worry, you'll like this thief. You see, I did some checking up, and I found that he's an old friend of yours."

* * *

The thieves' prison was built in the center of the city, right next to the constables' headquarters. It was built so that anyone walking by could see the prisoners in their jail cells and strung up by chains around their ankles and wrists, so as to deter anyone with immoral or unlawful thoughts.

Inside, the prisoners were held in chains or in cages strewn about the floor, which was covered in straw, reflecting the warden's ironic view of prison reform. The prisoners were a mix, but most wore ragged clothes and were covered in filth.

Near the middle, but a little to the left of the main column, a young thief was strung up by his wrists. His feet were on the ground, but the chains were pulled up high enough so that he couldn't walk around. He wore black pants, rags but definitely modeled after ninja garb. He was shirtless, and his upper body was that of an athletic sixteen-year old, very tone but with little actual muscle, except for the abdominal area, which was flat and hinted at definition. He had blond, ragged hair that came down to his eyes. His body was slightly covered in dirt and he had dried blood on his forehead. However, despite his ragged state, Ron Stoppable wasn't about to give up easily. Even now, he was completely upside-down and struggling with the chains, trying to break free. Since his execution was scheduled for today, he pulled with a certain anxiety.

"Ron!" a whispered voice cried at him. Ron looked up, or rather down in this case, to see the old man he had befriended in the last three days.

"Yeah?"

"Somebody's coming!" Ron quickly flipped down, returning to his regular state of standing with his hands above his head. "Thanks buddy!"

The door to the large holding area opened and one of the jailers came in, followed by two girls. All the prisoners took interest in these members of the fairer gender, but none more so then Ron.

"Kim!" Ron was amazed to see Kim again. He was even more amazed when the jailor unlocked the ceiling chain from his shackles and attached them to another chain that the jailor was towing. "What's this?"

The jailor turned to Kim. "We're placing him in your custody. This never happened, okay?"

Kim nodded, took the chain, and led Ron outside.

* * *

"This is great! Oh, the world is so vivid and alive! It's like I've been reborn and seeing things for the first time!"

Kim was following Monique down the streets of Hokodate to their next destination. Ron, of course, was trailing behind slowly. However, he was forced to keep up with Kim as he was on a short leash.

"That's great Ron."

"Did you ever notice the sky? Its so blue."

"Wow."

Silence.

"Zip-pidde-do-da, zip-pa-di-dey, my oh my what a wonderful..."

"Ron!"

"I'm just enjoying my new freedom. You understand that, right Kim?" He looked around to see that the buildings were getting more and more run-down as they passed each street. "Where are we going?"

Kim stopped and turned to look at Ron. "Do you know who the DFL are?"

"Yeah. Wait, what does that have to do with anything? Oh crud, you're going to drag me into the village and kill me! I'm sorry Kim! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I'll give you back your locket!"

"Calm down, Ron. I'mnot going to kill you. We're going to hunt them down. And you're going to lead us. And speaking of my locket, I want it back."

Ron sighed in relief. He scratched his head and smiled. "Sure. I stashed it with the rest of my stuff. I'll take you there and we can pick it up."

"Good. At least you can be somewhat reasonable. Remember, the only reason we're taking you out of jail is to bring in more dangerous criminals then yourself. You cooperate, and maybe I won't execute you after this is done to secure my honor.

Kim turned and continued forward. However, Ron did not move. Kim stopped and looked back at him.

"You coming?"

"Yo Kim, did I ever tell you I love you?"

Kim was shocked at the comment, and she visibly blushed. "Wha-what?"

"For being my friend."

"Oh. Um, sure Ron." She said it with a raised eyebrow and suspicious tone of voice.

Ron smiled and charged forward past Kim. "Alright, let's go catch some bad guys!"

Monique gave Kim a look. "And how do you know this guy? A little weird if you ask me."

"You have no idea."

* * *

_WHAM_! The door to the crumbling house flew open, startling the criminal occupants of the house. Caught in a surprise, the four men inside were quickly brought down by a furious attack by the lone warrior girl who entered. Like a dance, the girl moved gracefully and skillfully, bringing all four down in no time. However, upon further investigation, the four men were not the DFL, but rather some bandits who had taken up residence in their hideout. The DFL had left only the day before, most likely to enter Hokodate and steal the diamond.

* * *

"So, where do we go from here, Kim?" The sun was setting and the beginning of the contest was only a few hours away. The attack on the DFL's headquarters had been a bust, and since Ron didn't have any additional information on them, the three adventurers (plus Rufus) were back at square one.

Kim had her hands behind her head and was thinking deeply. Finally she said, "looks like we're going to have to go to the contest."

Monique seemed to welcome the idea. "So you're going to enter!" She said with great excitement.

Kim immediately went on the defensive. "Oh, but I'm a warrior, I don't do beauty contests, we don't have the proper clothes or the time to gather what we need, so..." She was rambling on nervously, when Monique put one finger up to Kim's lips and silenced her.

Monique smiled. "Leave everything to me. I'll get everything you need."

"How about me too?"

Kim and Monique looked behind them to see Ron shivering in the cold wind. While Kim was wearing warm robes and Monique furs, Ron was still shirtless and wearing ragged pants. Since they had gone straight from the jail into the eba village and back, they hadn't stopped to allow Ron to gather his things, and now, with a few inches of snow on the ground and cold wind blowing, Ron was shivering heavily.

"What do we do about him, Kim?"

"I don't know. He doesn't really have a purpose now," she smiled mockingly, "so maybe we should just leave him out in the cold."

"Aw, c'mon Kim. I'm your friend, right?"

Suddenly, Rufus popped out of Kim's robe and ran over to Ron. He climbed up to Ron's shoulder and began chattering to Kim wildly.

"Rufus! You're taking his side?"

"Uh-huh!" he nodded.

Kim sighed and smiled. "O-kay, we'll bring him along. We were just messing with you, Ron."

Kim turned to follow Monique. Ron snickered. With a flick of his hand, he pulled out a piece of cheese.

"Thanks little guy. Plenty more where that came from."

"Yum-yum!"

End Chapter

* * *

Yeah, its a two-parter. So sue me. I was late on the update because I spent my time writing another fan-fic. It was a halloween one, but I only got half-way through the fic before becoming sick of it and stopping. However, I didn't want to get rid of it, so I put it up, unfinished but still pretty good. It's up now on my page, so if you guys don't mind an R rating (or that Halloween is already over) stop by and RR. I could use some vindication for m ego ;)

Other than that, the next update will be late too, as this week is mid-terms. However, I have next weekend easy so the second part may be up next week. Peace!


	7. The Winter Carnival! Part 2

Words in **bold** are in Spanish. Everyone else is speaking Japanese, not English.

* * *

Chapter 7: "The Winter Carnival" Pt. 2

_I, Metalguru, do hereby give permission to turn Samurai Girl Kim Possible into a quack experimental fan-fiction, in the nature of Excel Saga. Signed, Metalguru._

"Is this the place?" After leaving the eba village, Kim, Monique, Rufus, and their new companion Ron, had headed for the docks to pick up supplies from a store that Monique mentioned. In the docks district of Hokodate, our intrepid trio was now standing in front of the store they had been looking for.

"Yeah, it is. How did you know?" Monique replied to Kim's question.

"Just a hunch."

Even though Monique hadn't told them which store they were looking for, actually it was pretty easy to tell which store they were headed to, as every store on the block utilized Japanese architecture except one. The one that stood out had been refitted from its original architecture to look like a beach-side shack, complete with festive palm trees and pink shutters. It stuck out like a sore thumb.

Port Banana. That was what the large sign on the shop stated. The trio went inside.

As they opened the door, a bell attached to it rang. They heard movement from inside and then a voice started shouting. Looking around, Kim examined the inside of the shop. It was filled from wall-to-wall with kimonos, obis, some fashionable armor, and other articles of clothing. There were even stylized versions of samurai armor and ninja clothing. Next to the Japanese items were western clothing and objects, from pantaloons and wigs to rapiers and buckled shoes. Near the back of the room were the most interesting clothes. Someone was in the midst of trying to sew a western cloak using the material normally reserved for a fashionable kimono, and they were doing a good job of it.

"**Junior? Junior! Where is that lazy tailor? Junior! We have customers!"** A heavily accented voice came from behind some racks.

Another voice responded back, this one from farther in the store. This voice sounded tired and annoyed. **"I'm busy, why don't you get it yourself?**

The voice was getting closer to the Kim. **"You need some serious attitude adjustment, Junior! When I get done with these customers, we are going to have a talk, young man!"**

The man came out into view of the trio. He was an older man, with brown skin and slicked white and gray hair covered by a wig. He wore the clothing of a Spanish gentleman, with a white tunic below a blue coat and tan pantaloons, stopping at the knee with white socks continuing down to his feet where he had buckled shoes. He walked with an ivory cane and exotic rings, hinting at his exciting life and travels. He took one look at the trio, saw Monique, and then burst into a smile.

"Monique!" He opened his arms wide in greeting and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her.

Monique returned the gesture. They kissed each other on the cheek.

"**I am so glad to see you again, Monique. You have been gone for some time now. You made me very worried.**" He held her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake to prove his point. He smiled.

Monique smiled back. "I missed you too, Senor Senior, but I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

"**Of course." **He turned to look at Ron and Kim. **"Ah, Monique, are these friends of you?"**

"Yes. Senor Senior, this is Ron and Kim. Guys, this is Senor Carlos Miguel Senior, Sr. Senor Senior, I met Kim in the Ita district. She helped me stop that crazy prince from forcing Achika's daughter to marry him."

"**I heard about that**." He walked over to Kim and kissed her on both cheeks. "I am honored to make your slice of bread."

He spoke choppy Japanese and didn't exactly get all the words right, but his kind demeanor and sincerity put Kim at ease.

"And this is Ron. He's… um… new in town."

Senor Senior walked over to Ron and gave him the same courtesy he gave Kim. He kissed Ron on the cheeks. As he moved back towards the interior of the store, Ron stepped next to Monique and gave her a strange look.

"He's part Moor." Monique whispered. "The kissing thing is a tradition to his people. It's just his way of saying hello."

Ron nodded, clearly not understanding what the heck she just said.

Senior Senor clapped his hands together. "This is a joyous fish! We must celebrate! Junior! **Get out here! Monique is back!**"

Kim spoke up. "Actually, sir, we're here on business."

Senor Senior gave her a hurt look.

"But we can stay for dinner!" Monique came in with the save. Senor Senior immediately lit up with a smile.

"Excellent! What can I help you with? Mi Casa es su Casa."

"Well, we're going to enter Kim in the Winter Princess contest, and we need some supplies, you know, clothes, make-up, etc."

Senor Senior clapped his hands. "That is a great idea! It will bring large business to the cow!"

Ron tried to help Senor Senior correct his grammar while Kim gave Monique a funny look. "Hold on one second! Who said I'm the one entering? Why not you?"

"Because I called 123 NOT IT!"

"Oh come on, that's not fair! Besides, I'm a warrior, not some pompous princess prancing around on pretty pink petals."

"Try saying that five times fast," Ron chimed in. Rufus stuck out his tongue and twisted it at a weird angle.

"What is all the commotion, father?" Stepping out into plain view was Senior's son. He wore a white cotton shirt underneath a white tunic, with white pantaloons and black buckled shoes. His tan skin contrasted with the all white garb, and he wore his black hair in a ponytail.

"Oh, hello Monique. Welcome back." From first impressions, Kim thought he looked normal, except for the strange foreign garb. Then he spotted Kim. His eyes lit up, and Kim immediately felt uncomfortable.

"And who is this exquisite beauty?"

"Junior, this is Kim."

He wrapped one arm around his stomach and another around his back and bowed to Kim.

"I am Senor Carlos Miguel Senior, Jr. You, my dear, can call me Junior."

He took Kim's hand and kissed it. Kim laughed nervously. "Um, nice to meet you."

"And this is Ron."

Ron, remembering how the Senior Senior had greeted him, and seeing what the younger one had just done, hid his hands behind his back and gave Junior a little bow. "Hey, how's it going?"

Junior didn't take his eyes off Kim. "Charmed, I'm sure." Junior just blew him off. Ron puffed out a little air in anger, but otherwise kept quiet.

"**Junior, where is your wig? How can you look like a gentleman without a powdered wig on your head?"**

"But father I do not like the wig. It makes my head itchy."

"**You will wear the wig. It makes you look dignified."**

"But father, all of the men here wear the floptop. I look stupid in front of the girls with the wig."

"**If you do not wear the wig…"**

At this point, both Senior and Junior switched over to Spanish and began yelling at each other with a pace that was almost impossible to comprehend. To Kim and Ron it sounded like nothing more than gibberish, but as Ron watched Monique he would see her sometimes cringe as certain words were exchanged between father and son.

"**You will become a gentleman, and that's final!"**

"But, father I have ambitions and dreams! I dream that someday in Japan, there will be bright glowing lights filling the streets, with loud music being played from buildings! And boxes with arrows painted on them, and they light up in a sequence so you stomp on the arrows and they give you the impression that you can dance! And rooms that you go into and it is dark and there are flashing lights, and everyone shakes their behinds to the pulse-pounding music! It will be beautiful, father, beautiful!"

The others just stared at Junior with confused faces.

"…and I want to combine Eastern and Western clothing into a new fashion that will rock the world!"

"Oh, that makes much more sense," Kim said.

"I agree. I mean, what are the odds his first dream happening?

They all laughed.

After a few seconds of laughing, they quieted down and got back to business.

"So, you got anything for my home-girl, Junior?"

"For this pretty flower, anything." As if to prove his point, he looked deep into Kim's eyes and pulled out a rose. He started to hand it to her, then pulled it back and put it in his mouth. He quickly pulled it out again as one of the thorns caught his tongue.

"Ouch!"

"**Junior, quit fooling around! We have work to do."**

"Yes, father." The two seniors headed back into the shop. Monique nudged Kim.

"I think he likes you."

Kim just rolled her eyes. "Really? I didn't notice."

Kim walked out wearing a white European dress with beautifully adorned feathers and a teddy goose wrapped around the neck. The bottom was one of those large umbrella dress bottoms, which shot out and covered the legs all the way down to the floor. She looked like Cinderella.

In the back of the store, the Seniors had set out some chairs and were currently conducting their own fashion show, with Kim as the only model. Monique and Ron sat in the audience while the Seniors got up to pour over each dress

"Father, what is this?"

"I thought we could introduce the European court to these people."

"This is the Princess of Winter contest, not Buckingham Palace. Go back and try on the dress I marked with a number 4. I mean, seriously Father, you are too old fashioned…"

Ron was sitting in one of the chairs on the floor, obviously bored out of his mind. He was playing thumb war with Rufus, and after twenty games hadn't won one. This one wasn't going any better. Despite the fact that Rufus didn't have thumbs, Ron got pinned again.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

"Hmph!" said the little naked mole rat.

"Yo, Moan, what are we doing here? You still haven't told me anything since you busted me out of prison."

"First of all, it's Monique. Get it right, buster. Secondly, we're getting ready for this."

She handed him the bit of parchment detailing the event.

"Let's see, Princess of Winter contest, girl most like Princess Snow, yadda yadda yadda, first prize…" His eyes suddenly lit up. He looked over to Monique and realized that she had seen the gesture.

Monique smiled. "See something you like?"

He tossed the parchment over his shoulder. "Oh, you know; nothing important. Why should a guy like me care about a beauty pageant?" Ron tried to play it off cool, but, being Ron, his face gave away his true intentions.

Monique picked the paper up. "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of master thief?"

"I'm a treasure hunter! Trea-sureHun-ter I just, you know, dabble in banditry on the side."

"Uh huh. But I bet you wouldn't mind getting your hands on that necklace?"

Ron grinned. "Maybe."

"So how did you and Kim meet?"

Up on the stage, Kim came out wearing a Geisha outfit. Senior yelled at Junior and sent Kim back to change.

"Well, we kinda ran into each other. Actually," Ron assumed a dramatic pose on the chair, "she was running from a group of ten, no, fifty bandits! And when it looked like she was a goner, I rushed in, weapons flying, and saved the day." He was beaming.

"Uh huh. Sit down, Mr. Big Shot, Kim told me the real story. How she saved your scrawny butt from three goofball bandits."

Ron sat down dejected. "Yeah, that too. But I helped her out later on!"

Monique was resting her hands on the chair while looking dreamily at Ron. Ron lifted an eyebrow.

"What are you looking at?" he said, more in a cautious voice than a mean one.

Kim walked out on stage wearing a dress that looked like Princess Toadstool. Junior now complained to Senior and sent Kim back.

"Oh, nothing."

"C'mon, I've seen that look before. You're up to something."

Monique smiled. "I was just thinking at how great a couple you and Kim make."

Ron blushed and started chuckling. "Heh, no, not at all; really? How do you figure?"

"In my tribe, I was trained as a match-maker and mid-wife, as well as my warrior training. I can pick up sub-tle hints." She waved her finger like a pendulum while saying that one word.

Kim came out dressed in a cat-girl costume. Senior and Junior looked like they were about to get into an all-out brawl.

"So, what do sense from Kim? About me, that is?" Ron decided to push his luck.

Monique bopped him on the head. "That she loves another guy and hates you with all her guts."

Ron blew a raspberry.

"Attention! Attention!" Junior stood before the two spectators, his hands raised for silence. "We have finally come to a decision!"

Ron and Monique turned their attention to the stage. Junior bowed and pointed to a curtain, which Senior pulled back.

Kim walked out wearing a beautiful red kimono that seemed to glitter in the light. Several bows were attached to the back and streamers flowed down the front. Her face had some make-up, but just so much to make her look dignified yet accentuate some of her natural beauty. She looked like a princess.

Junior kissed his index and middle finger and sent it towards Kim. "Bravo!"

"Amazing!" cried Senior.

"Wow!" was all Ron could get out.

"She's ready!" Monique cried, pointing one arm in the air.

Monique went up on stage with Senior and Kim to work out some of the details. Junior walked off the stage

"**What do you think, Monique? Is it not the most exquisite dress you have ever seen?"** Senior was indeed amazed at how beautiful something he could create could be.

"It's good, sir, but the only thing I think we could change…"

Monique and Senor Senior began pointing out various places where they could add or take away small details. Kim didn't listen to them; she was too amazed at how she looked.

Kim looked down to Junior who had taken a seat below the stage. Alone.

"Uh, Junior, where's Ron?"

"Oh, he had to use the bathroom."

Kim drooped her head. "And did you take his chains off?"

"Yes I did. He had horrible chafing, so I told him to get some vanilla lotion from the counter. He hasn't come back yet." Junior obviously didn't understand the consequences of his actions. He looked around. "In fact, I saw him heading for the front door."

Kim's hands were visibly shaking. "He got away again!"

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman! Konichiwa! Welcome to the annual Winter Princess festival!"

Poppers fired white and blue confetti into the air. White lamps were lit, accentuating the white accumulation of snow. People filled the main street, walking from booth to booth as well as the restaurants and shops which opened their doors. Delicious smells of rice balls, teriyaki, sushi, and noodles filled the air. Saki vendors delivered delicious spirits that warmed the gullet on the cold night. Many of the restaurants had sitting areas with open fires, where people could sit and talk while staying warm.

A familiar blond haired boy carrying a pink naked mole rat on his shoulder strolled down the snowy streets. He had since hid his ninja gear underneath a colorful kimono he had swiped from a rich and greedy merchant in the rich section of town. He easily blended in with the wacky outfits of passer-bys and street performers.

He stretched his arms above his head and yawned. "Ahh! Freedom! Well, little guy, what should we do first?"

Rufus rubbed his stomach. "Food!"

Ron's stomach growled. "Yeah, I'm hungry too. I wonder what there is to…"

Suddenly, a sweet smell touched his nose that quickly captured his hungry imagination. It was that disgusting but delicious smell of small clumps of rice, wasabi, soy sauce, and raw fish all clumped together into that scrumptious mush known only as…sushi!

Ron looked around quickly, searching for the source of that smell. There was only one thing he loved more than treasure, and that was sushi. Especially with saki. Ron looked all around the road, under every corner and on every rooftop, even getting bopped on the head for looking under a woman's dress. Finally, he realized that the sushi bar was right behind him, and he jumped down and rushed up to it.

"I'll take that, and this, and that, and some of this stuff (oohh, too salty!) , and your strongest saki to go with it!"

The vendor poured a little bit of saki for Ron. In a flash, he gulped it down and demanded more. As he drank, Ron began singing.

"One a saki,

two a saki,

three a saki four!

Five a saki

six a saki

gimme some more."

In only a few minutes, Ron was already plastered.

"More saki! Good saki! Warms the blood!"

The vendor, however, did not agree. "Hey buddy, I think you've had enough."

"Now you listen here," Ron said sluggishly, "I'll tell you when I've had enough. HIC!" Ron fell backward off his stool, landing in the snow. He giggled like an idiot, which made sense since that was what he was.

The vendor sighed. "Somebody call over the constables."

Shortly two of the town's constables came up to the boy.

"Well, will you look at this? We picked this kid up three days ago. He was completely wasted then, too! Got a criminal record a mile long though. Alright, hup to." They bent down to pick Ron up.

The other constable spoke up. "Ah, why don't we just leave him, let him have a good time? I mean, it's the festival, and you know if we show up at headquarters they're gonna stick us with jail guard duty, and we'll be the only one's there."

"Quit your whining. No matter what, we've got a job to do, even if it stinks."

They picked up Ron and started to drag them away. Little did they notice that Ron had slightly opened his eyes and was smiling sinisterly.

* * *

At the main meeting hall, the crowds piled in to observe the stage, built to represent the gentle nature of Princess Snow.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the contest!"

The crowd cheered as the formerly dark stage lit up from the light of a few hundred candles. Monique and the Seniors had grabbed a spot near the front of the stage and joined in cheering with the packed crowd. A portly man wearing a bandana with a red circle in the center walked to the center of the stage.

"I'm your host, Kochiban!"

"Who asked you?" someone yelled from the audience. Everyone laughed.

"Tonight, we have the loveliest girls from all over the eastern rim competing for the title of this year's Princess Snow! Let's meet the contestants!"

"From the illustrious Yamana family, Bonischi Yamana!" Bonnie came out wearing a white kimono with beautifully detailed purple flowers down the sides and peacock feathers on her back. The crowd loved it.

"Next, from the northern mountains, representing Port Banana, the beautiful warrior girl, Aisha Kimbre Possible!" The red dress was perfect as it matched Kim's hair color. Her face would have been red as well if it wasn't for the white powder which she and every other contestant wore.

"That's my girl!" Monique yelled out, cheering for her home-girl.

"**I must say, Junior, we've outdone ourselves this time!**" Senor Senior remarked, rubbing his chin.

"Next, representing the new Kleeg line of clothing, Japanese by nationality, a Chinese flower by birth, Ms. Adrena Lin!" Adrena had on a blue kimono with gold puffballs and a bottom that stuck out like an umbrella. Her blond hair was tied up in an enticing bun, and her fox-like eyes caught the attention of every male in the house.

"OOooo, ahhhh!" The females in the audiences glared at their male companions.

The MC continued on until every contestant was out on the stage.

"I present to you, this year's…" He was stopped in the middle of his sentence by a servant running up to him and whispering in his ear. The crowd watched as he nodded to the servant.

"Ladies and gentleman, it appears we have a last minute entry!"

A quiet murmur arose from the crowd.

"A late entry? Isn't that against the rules?"

The MC looked at the judges. They nodded back to him.

"Well, it doesn't look like there's any rules against a last minute entry, so let's bring out, um, well since she entered late, we really don't know anything about her except her name, so, well, let me introduce to you, Miss Mihoshi!"

The last girl walked out on stage and the entire crowd fell into a hushed silence. The last girl had stunning blond hair and a completely gold kimono that seemed to sparkle in the glow of the candles. She had a petite frame and innocent eyes that looked like they could have been taken from a deer. Strangely however, she carried a fan that covered most of her face except for her eyes. She batted her eyelashes at the crowd.

The crowd went wild.

"And how are you today, Miss Mihoshi?" asked the MC.

"Oh, I'm so happy to be here to compete. I hope I win!" She spoke in a very high, very cute yet also very annoying voice, at least to the other girls. The crowd seemed to eat it up.

All the other girls glared at this new arrival. They whispered amongst themselves, adding in choice names for the new arrivals.

"No problem," said Bonnie, flicking a strand of her hair, "she really shouldn't carry around such illusions, especially not in this crowd."

"Aw, c'mon," said Adrena, giving Bonnie an unwelcome smack to the shoulder. "The more the merrier, I always say!"

Kim was just too mortified at how silly the competition was becoming.

The girls left the stage as the judges climbed up and took up kneeling positions.

"The first contest," shouted the MC, "is the tea ceremony!"

Bonnie ran through the tea ceremony perfectly, delivering an excellent performance.

Kim flubbed a few details, but actually did very well for someone not used to pageantry.

Adrena completely screwed it up, spilling hot tea on the judges' laps and sending them running for cover.

Then it was Mihoshi's turn. She not only performed exceptionally, she made the best tea out of all the girls and even turned a almost-spill into a cutesy 'oops' which the crowd was more than willing to forgive. This angered all the other girls even more.

"Next, the talent competition!"

Bonnie, Kim, and Adrena all showed off their martial prowess with their weapons. They had changed out of their dresses for this particular event and were in their fighting garbs.

Bonnie used her nagimaka to maneuver and fill five teacups with a teapot, even serving the tea to the judges.

Kim blindfolded herself, then had a very brave audience member sit with an apple on their head. With two quick swipes, she cut the apple into four pieces, along with some of the brave showman's hair.

Adrena showed off her particular brand of fighting. Namely, she smashed everything in sight and sent the judges running once again.

Mihoshi did an impromptu Noh dance, awing the audience and once again pissing off all the other girls even more.

"And now, the swimsuit contest!"

"There were no swimsuit contests in feudal Japan!" Monique shouted.

"It's called fan service." added Junior.

All the girls came out in skimpy bikinis. All that is, except for one.

"Miss Mihoshi, why aren't you in a swimsuit." She hadn't bothered to change out of her golden dress. The fan still covered her face.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I couldn't bear to show off my body in such a shallow and sexist way."

The entire stadium grew silent. The MC spoke up.

"Pure and modest! What a great girl!"

The crowd started cheering for Mishoshi.

As the other girls returned to their dressing rooms, Kim felt stupid for going out there in a swimsuit.

"Hey!" Bonnie's voice spoke up behind her. "You see that girl out there?" She pointed at Mihoshi.

"Yeah, she's good."

_Hmph_! Bonnie crossed her arms. "Look, if we don't do something, she's going to win. Now, I don't like you, and you don't like me, but you and I are probably the closest behind her, so we've got to join together to try and pull something out of our butts."

"Like what?" Kim asked.

Bonnie grabbed her arm. "Come with me."

"And now, the judges are going to tally up the…"

"Wait!"

Kim and Bonnie came back onto stage in their fighting garments. Bonnie whispered to the MC, who walked over to the judges. They spoke for a second, then the MC walked back to the center of the stage.

"Well, this is most strange, but Miss Yamana and Miss Possible have asked to sing a song for the audience. There is no precedent for this, so we're going to leave this up to the audience. What say you, audience?"

"Yes!" the audience shouted back.

"Alright, girls, take it away!"

Bonnie and Kim walked to center stage and bowed. The music started up.

"That isn't love," Bonnie started.

"Love isn't that," Kim added.

"I am in love, but I am not loved

Definitely isn't love,

Derriere isn't love;

I want to be loved but I never seek it out"

Bonnie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I offer myself and throw my life away,"

Kim popped forward now.

"looking neither left nor right I will just earnestly

cheat weedle interfere

and tramp down and kick strangers"

"and we get the hell out" They both repeated that line several times.

Bonnie ate a banana peel and Kim slipped on it.

"Even if I slip on banana peel

it is all for his sake anyway

if anything it is probably

a kind of loyalty called love!"

They both ended with their arms out in the air, and the crowd went wild.

"And now the judgement!"

The judges came forward with their decision. The MC opened the envelope.

"The winner is: Miss Mihoshi!"

Mihoshi blushed as she walked to the center of the stage, waving to the cheering crowd.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!"

The mayor walked up to the stage with the same wooden box he had carried up the night before.

"And now, the mayor will present the award for the winner."

The mayor opened the box to reveal the Heart of the Princess of Winter.

"To the winner, we present to you…"

WHAM! The back of the stadium exploded in a rain of wooden splinters and bark. The last few rows scrambled for cover.

As the last of the sawdust settled, three figures stood in the hole in the wall. One was a large muscular African man, another a Japanese man decked out in a white karate gi, and the third an absolutely huge sumo wrestler who stood almost seven feet tall and must have weighed over four hundred pounds.

The black man pointed at the jewel. "That's ours, old man!"

"Run! It's the DFL!" The audience panicked, creating absolute chaos in the stadium. Jr. bounded over the crowd and threw a roundhouse at both the mayor and Mihoshi, missing them but sending them both flying for cover.

Kim, seeing Mihoshi falling backward, quickly ran forward and caught the contest winner.

"Are you okay, Mihos-"

Kim stopped in mid-sentence, shocked because she finally saw the girl's face. The large blond wig fell off her head, and Kim was staring straight into the giggling face of one Ron Stoppable.

"Ron?"

"Kim Possible, you're my hero." He said in a really childish and goofy voice.

"What the heck are you doing? Are you trying to steal the jewel?"

"Maybe. Oops, gotta blast." he said, flipping backwards and out of the way as a stool came crashing onto stage.

The DFL was wrecking the stadium, as a smattering of guards attempted futilely to stop them.

"You Japanese punks are nothing! Martial arts masters, my butt!" Vinnie shouted, boxing his way through the guards.

Jr. knocked down several more guards with his powerful roundhouse kicks. "I know kung fu, and I'm going to use it on you!"

"Big Mike, smash!" By merely crunching his feet into the ground, Mike made waves on the wooden floor, sending guards flying.

"That's it!" Kim stood up, ripping off the bottom of her dress, allowing herself more mobility. She grabbed her sword, which previously had been a part of her dress, and held it to her side.

"Bonnie! Adrena!" she shouted to the two other warrior girls, already going for their own weapons, "let's go!"

"Alright!" shouted Adrena.

"I don't take orders from commoners, but this time I'll make an exception!" Bonnie readied her mighty weapon.

Bonnie and Kim ran towards Jr., while Adrena headed towards Vinnie to help out Monique, who was already fighting hand to hand with the tall bruiser.

"Need some help, kid?" Adrena asked, running up to Monique and readying her weapon.

"Since you asked so politely." Monique responded, readying her tambas for some more action.

"Oh, please." Vinnie said, smacking his fists together. "Two girly-girls versus me?"

Monique and Adrena looked at each other and smiled.

Monique rushed Vinnie, pounding him with a long combo of attacks. However, Vinnie blocked every one and even countered, knocking Monique sideways.

"Is that the best you've got?"

"FORE!" Adrena rushed Vinnie and swung her hammer like a golf club, smacking Vinnie dead on and sending him flying through the roof.

"You go girl!" shouted Monique. Adrena gave her a thumbs up.

Kim and Bonnie rushed at Jr.

"You hit him high," said Kim.

"and I'll hit 'em low." responded Bonnie.

Using a sweeping motion, Bonnie knocked out Vinnie's legs, while Kim landed a punishing jump kick. Vinnie went flying through the chairs, stopping unconscious.

"Yeah!" all four girls regrouped.

"Now, all we have to do is stop the last guy!"

Big Mike, realizing that his two best friends had just been beaten, turned and stared at the four girls who had done the deed. Gripping his face into a wild and angry sneer, he smashed one foot on the floor, then the other, then got down into a crouch with one hand in front of him. He then charged straight at them.

"Easier said then done!" shouted Bonnie.

"Scatter!" shouted Kim.

Big Mike ran at them and missed them, but in the shock, Kim messed up her jump and got knocked into the air and went flying. As she looked down in mid-air, she saw that she was flying straight at some debris of the sharp and pointy variety.

_Oh crud!_ She couldn't change her momentum in mid-air. All she could do was curl up and hope for the best. It would be soon now.

Suddenly, something slammed into her in mid-air, sending her flying away from the debris and towards the safety of the stage. Landing on the stage, she realized she was being cradled by two strong arms.

"Are you okay?" A very strong and sexy voice asked her.

She opened her eyes to find herself looking into the mask of the very same thief who had tried to steal the jewel the night before.

"You're that thief. But why-"

"Shh." He put one gloved finger up to her lips. She was blushing, she knew it.

"I watched you perform during the contest. You were amazing."

"Thank you." She was still cradling in his arms, but the reality of the situation came flying back as another banister flew by them as Big Mike fought the other girls.

"You need to get back to your friends. I'm not here to help you. I just wanted to tell you one thing." He moved up his mask to reveal only his mouth. Slowly he leaned close to her and gave her a short but passionate kiss.

He pulled his mask back over his face. "You're a very worthy opponent."

Then, as fast as he had appeared, the mysterious thief shot out of the stadium through the hole in the roof courtesy of Vinnie. He paused for a single moment to look back at Kim, then shot out the hole.

"Wow." Kim thought, touching her lips.

"Kim!" Bonnie shouted at her. "How 'bout you get out of la-la-land and help us out!"

Big Mike charged at Bonnie, who was caught in a corner.

THWACK! A chair landed dead center on Big Mike's head. It didn't drop the big man, but it was enough to make him stop his charge and look around at who threw the chair.

Kim stood defiantly across the contest hall turned arena. "C'mon, ya big doofus!"

"Grrrrr…" Big Mike did a sumo stomp and crouched down, preparing to charge at Kim. Bonnie, of course, got an amazing view of a full moon.

"Ew. Gross." Bonnie said, holding her nose.

"Rargh!"

Big Mike charged Kim, accelerating at every step, preparing to slam straight into the budding warrior girl and smash every bone in her body with his massive muscles. Kim held her sword, ready to draw. She only had time for one strike, and it had to be good or it was Kim sandwich. She readied her nerves. Every ounce of training she had ever done came down to this very moment. She was ready.

No. Wait. She wasn't.

_Oh crud_! Kim's mind flashed with fear. She had missed her opportunity.

"Kim! Somebody help her!" Monique yelled.

Suddenly, a chain flew out of nowhere, quickly wrapping around Big Mike's legs. The chain tightened, bringing his bulging thighs together and tossing the wrestler off-balance, sending him into a nose dive, crashing face first mere inches from Kim.

Big Mike let out a sigh and his body relaxed. Kim gave his head a little push. The sudden blow to the head had knocked the sumo wrestler unconscious.

She saw the chain wrapped around Big Mike's legs. Following it to its owner, she found herself once again looking at Ron Stoppable, back in his battle garments and crouching on the stage.

"Somebody call for me?" Ron grinned like he had just heard a great joke.

"Who the heck is he?" Bonnie yelled.

"Your timing stinks, Ron!" Kim yelled into his face. She then relaxed a little, surprising Ron. "But, then again, thanks." She gave him a small peck on the cheek.

"Yo, Kim!" Bonnie walked up to Kim and shook her hand.

"I was wrong about you," Bonnie said, "you really are a good warrior."

"You too, Bonnie!" Kim responded.

They chuckled awkwardly, yet there was actually no animosity between the two girls, for once.

The judge came up and looked around frantically. He held his hands to his face.

"Oh my goodness, where's Miss Mihoshi?"

"She, or should I say, he, is right there." Monique pointed out Ron.

Ron smiled a stupid grin. He was obviously enjoying all of this.

The MC took a look at him, and then shook his head.

"Well, since our winner was male, he is automatically disqualified. Therefore, the runner-up is the winner. And this year's runner-up was: Kim Possible!"

"I won?" Kim was dumbfounded.

"Way to go girl!" Monique patted her on the back.

"Wow, did you hear that Bonnie? …Bonnie?" Kim looked at the Yamana only to notice that the prissy girl was turning red.

"I can't believe this!" Bonnie started shouting. "Fraud! Cheat! I want a recount!"

"Sorry," said the nervous MC, "but that's the way the judges ruled."

Bonnie pointed at Kim. "THAT'S IT! From now on, we're rivals!" Bonnie stormed off with her servants behind her trying to calm the now hysterical girl.

* * *

The next day

Kim woke up and got dressed before Monique and Ron awoke. All three of them had stayed overnight to celebrate and relax, but it was time for Kim to leave and go home. She quietly gathered her things and slipped out the door. As the sunrise glistened over the damp new-fallen snow, Kim breathed in the fresh air, sighing as she looked back towards the inn, where her two new friends would awake in a few hours.

She really didn't want to leave them behind, but it was better this way. She needed answers, and to get them she needed some peace and solace. Ron and Monique were fun to hang with, but in the long run, Kim concluded that they would be distractions. It'd take her less time to get home without them anyway. She felt bad about that thought, but, then again, all the greatest masters she could think of were loners. Or maybe she was just remembering the tales of lone ronin her grandfather used to tell her.

Anyway, one of the first steps on the road to becoming a warrior was to understand oneself. That much she knew. It would take some quiet meditation and soul-searching, but she knew she'd find the answers eventually. She was the girl who believed she could do anything, right? And really, there's no time like the present to get started.

"Hey, Kim! Kim Possible!" A lone voice echoed through the empty streets.

Kim came out of her thoughts to watch Adrena Lin run up to her. Adrena was wearing a brown traveling cloak over her battle garments and her hammer was wrapped up in bamboo paper, so Kim guessed that she was probably leaving too.

"Hey, Adrena."

"Hey, Kim. I just wanted to tell you how cool it was how you took down those bad guys last night. I was, how do you Japanese say it, 'honored to fight beside you.'"

Kim smiled. "You weren't so bad yourself. I think you make a great fighter. Though I don't see you getting any modeling contracts soon."

The two girls got a chuckle out of that.

"So, where you headed, Kim? And where's your sidekicks?"

Kim gave her a defensive look. "Oh, no. They're not my sidekicks. I'm headed home, so I thought I'd save us from goodbyes, 'cause I'm really bad at them."

"Oh. I thought that guy was pretty cute. Nothing happened between you two, huh?

"No! No, no, no… besides, his personality is way too goofy for me."

"Well, I've got to go. It was nice meeting you, Kim. Maybe we'll cross paths again. I'd really like to test my skills against yours someday. But, whatever." She turned away and stuck up one hand in a wave. "Oh, and if you're ever in Kyoto, my dad owns a restaurant there. I work there in between bounties, so stop on by someday. See ya."

"Bye." Kim waved back. Adrena walked over to a few other people dressed similarly and mounted a waiting horse. With one last wave, they took off south.

Kim watched them ride off into the distance. As she did, she noticed two shadows come up behind her.

"And just where do you think you're going?" said a familiar voice behind Kim.

Kim turned to see Monique and Ron all packed up and ready to go.

"Monique? Ron?" She had expected Monique to follow her, but not Ron.

"Hey, we're friends now, girl. That makes us inseperable." Monique smiled, patting Kim on the shoulder.

"And you Ron?" Kim asked.

Ron smiled that big goofy smile that made him look so innocent and lovable.

"I've got nowhere else to go. Might as well hang around my _friends_. Dumplings are better with friends, anway."

Monique started up again.

"Besides, I want to see everything this country has to offer. I've been couped up in high society too long. I want to see some action!"

Suddenly, two constables walked around a corner and stared directly at Ron.

"There he is!" They pointed straight at him.

Kim looked at Ron. "Ron, what did you do now?"

"Remember when I disappeared from the clothing shop last night? And then I showed up at the contest? Well, I did a few errands between them."

"Like what?"

Ron scratched the back of his head. "I kinda broke out all the prisoners at the jail."

Kim grabbed Ron by the collar. "Alright. This time you're not getting away. You may be my friend, but you still broke the law and-"

"Those must be his accomplices!" the guards yelled.

Kim was shocked. "Wait, accomplices? No! Wait a second!"

"Get them!"

The constables were almost on them. There was only one thing to do.

"Run for it!" yelled Ron.

"So not the drama!" yelled Kim.

"This is what I'm talking about!" yelled Monique.

The three friends raced off north towards new trials and adventures, seemingly connected by fate (or dumb luck.)

End Chapter

The song is the opening theme from Excel Saga. I don't exactly know the name.

Yes! I finally updated! I'm trying to update all of my fics regularly from now, but first of all I have about six chapters for four different fics currently languishing in my hard drive since before Christmas, so here's the sitch, in percentages;

ASiT2: Chapter 10 60 done

Chapter 11 30 done

Chapter 12 50 done

For Maria Chapter 5 10 done

Final Fantasy Naval Tactics Chapter 2: Brainstorming

AJFA Chapter 3: 90

JiB: Chapter 2 Back on the drawing board

New stuff:

MMLAATR: Chapter 1 15 done

The False Prophet: Chapter 1 10 done

MGS4: In synopsis phase.

I also have a few more ideas, but I really want to say that I've finished some fics before I actually start on anything else. Oh, and if anybody needs an editor, or beta reader, or someone to discuss ideas with, feel free to drop me an email. I really need to get my creative juices flowing. Before the weekend is over, I hope to blow through some of the list above.

To all my reviewers: you ain't seen nothing yet.

Also, if I had to describe her, my version of Adrena is a cross between the Kim Possible version and Kitsune from Love Hina, hence the 'fox eyes.'


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